Though Dune is not scheduled to hit U.S theaters until October 21, Denis Villeneuve's highly-anticipated sci-fi adaptation has already begun its international rollout in several overseas locations, and is off to a very strong start.
Prior to the weekend, analysts predicted that the movie could make between $35M-$40M by Monday, and while it's not expected to hit that higher figure, it should take in at least $37 million, breaking pandemic-era box office records in Russia, France, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Ukraine, Hong Kong and Singapore in the process.
This is a very impressive result, especially when you take into account that early projections were closer to just $20 million. Dune opens in the Middle East on September 22, followed by Japan and some other Asian and EMEA markets on October 15, and is expected to perform just as well. It remains to be seen how the film will fare domestically, of course, but this is a very encouraging sign.
In related BO news, Marvel's Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings has held on to the No. 1 spot for the third week in a row, and now sits at $320.6 million worldwide.
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