‘Dune’ has opened to $5.1 million at the Thursday box office.<\/b>
\n\u201cDune,\u201d an ambitious adaptation of Frank Herbert\u2019s famously unadaptable sci-fi epic, opened to a lordly $5.1 million in Thursday previews. The film will unspool across 4,100 theaters in the U.S. and Canada on Friday and is projected to generate $30 million to $40 million in its first three days of release. \u201cDune\u201d centers on a group of aristocratic families who are vying for control of a desert planet that contains a natural resource, dubbed \u201cspice,\u201d of enormous value. The Warner Bros. and Legendary production is debuting simultaneously on HBO Max, which could depress ticket sales. That\u2019s part of a larger corporate strategy undertaken by the studio which opted to debut all of its films day-and-date on the streamer as a concession to COVID-19. By way of context when it comes to \u201cDune\u2019s\u201d preview results, last weekend\u2019s box office champ \u201cHalloween Kills\u201d nabbed $4.9 million from Thursday evening shows en route to a $49.4 million debut, while the James Bond sequel \u201cNo Time to Die\u201d picked up $6.3 million over its Thursday screenings before debuting to $55.2 million. One of the weekend\u2019s other major wide releases, \u201cRon\u2019s Gone Wrong,\u201d an animated adventure from Disney and 20th Century, grossed $240,000 in previews. The sci-fi comedy cartoon is estimated to open to a muted $7 million to $10 million this weekend. \u201cDune,\u201d which was largely embraced by critics (a few griped it was more style than substance and hard to understand), is directed by Oscar nominee Denis Villeneuve, the auteur behind such cerebral spectacles as \u201cBlade Runner 2049\u201d and \u201cArrival.\u201d It stars Timoth\u00e9e Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsg\u00e5rd, Dave Bautista, Zendaya, Jason Momoa, and Javier Bardem and cost a hefty $165 million to produce. Villeneuve split Herbert\u2019s door-stop of a novel in two and has said he would like to direct a follow-up. In an interview with Variety this week, WarnerMedia Chair Ann Sarnoff suggested that the studio will back a sequel. \u201cThe story in itself sets up for a sequel. The production is so amazing and the storytelling is so compelling that it\u2019s not going to be judged on box office alone,\u201d Sarnoff said, explaining that the green light will be based on \u201cthe entirety of what \u2018Dune\u2019 can do for the company, including HBO Max.\u201d<\/p>\n