Discussion The Mandalorian and Grogu Box Office Thread - Releasing May 22, 2026

Mandalorian origin movie where the teenage prodigy loses his jetpack halfway through the movie but gets a new and improved one at the end and rides off into a sweet freeze frame

 

As predicted, the Dune 2 reviews have pushed into 98% with 119 out of 122 overall and 37 of 39 top critics.

This is elite territory in terms of reviews. Lots of classics that aren't rated this high.

Now we wait until the 1st, where 100M+ is entirely possible for the weekend, and we can find out the truth with our own eyes.

 

I’m seeing this Sunday.

 

I'll be going on Thursday. Will have to watch it in Italian, so I won't get the original voice performances, unfortunately. But I'll catch the English version right after it hits streaming...

 

Only another week, you can already smell it...

 

I probably won’t be watching Dune Part 2 in theater, the first was a strange virtualized modern art gallery tour and I’m sure the second will be as well. Don’t wanna bother dressing up for that.

 

Wow. Dune Part I is great, Dune Part II is a masterpiece.

 

How post-modern of you.

 

Don't even attempt to understand it. The Glitterstimm must flow. That is all.

 

They just turned the lights off

 

I enjoyed all the Rothko, Pollock, and Newman paintings in Dune.

 

So your central critique is that it looks amazing?

 

It’s just a matter of taste, I haven’t found big rectangular blocks of sandstone to be enthralling in big budget movies. The 2000 Sci Fi Channel adaptations of Dune had much, much better production design imo. And on a much smaller budget. They had colors . . .

 

“BorMullet and company watch Dune for the first time” - 2021, colorized

 

These guys protest.



Also, most of the movie takes place in an abandoned futuristic military base on a desert planet. Of course there will be visual austerity in that kind of environment. The story calls for it.

Also, we got a huge spider with human hands. What more do you want?

 

Denis Villeneuve is honored by Christopher Nolan's comparison of Dune: Part Two to The Empire Strikes Back, calling it a beautiful compliment.

It's a comparison that I would have never dared to do myself. I think it's a beautiful compliment because Empire Strikes Back is by far my favorite Star Wars movie. So, it’s like, coming from Chris [Nolan], an incredible compliment.

“I Would Have Never Dared”: Villeneuve Reacts To Christopher Nolan’s Dune 2 Review (screenrant.com)

I read Dune in the early 80s when I was in the 7th grade (about a year or 2 before the movie came out). This current version of it is far closer to the world that the book created in my head at the time than any of the others. Herbert's other survival planet books, e.g. The Dosadi Experiment, paint similarly grim, dreary, and austere environments.

The 80s and the 2000s Dune both look to me like what someone on psylocibin would see if they read the book.

 

Dune 2 opens with $ 81,5 mill ( 3 - day weekend in the US. Thats very solid. It has a large jump on Saturday from Friday ( without previews) and and a strong hold on Sunday. Always a good sign. Would this be a good OW number for a Star Wars film? No, but Dune is not Star Wars - and Star Wars is not Dune. I dont need to explain that further. They are simply two different beasts. Dune will have strong legs, and with a $ 200 mill global opening, i will not rule out it doing similar to Oppenheimer and has the potential for a billion. About half of the US OW gross comes from IMAX and premier screens. You know what to do Kathleen. Hire som IMAX cameras and secure Denis for the next Star Wars film phase.