'Dune: Part Two' early reactions praise the 'captivating' sequel. Here's what it earned at the box office

Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya's new movie, "Dune: Part Two" is receiving rave reviews online and earning millions in theaters.

The positive fan reactions to the epic sci-fi flick led to a massive debut at the box office. Variety reported on March 3 that "Dune 2" opened with $81.5 million domestically, marking the biggest opening weekend so far this year. "Dune 2" also landed the best box office opening since Taylor Swift's concert film "The Eras Tour," which earned $93 million when it arrived in theaters in October 2023.

Leading into the weekend, Variety originally predicted the sequel would bring in between $70 million and $80 million. In addition to exceeding expectations with $81.5 million, "Dune: Part 2" also made $97 million overseas, the publication reported, giving it a global total of $178 million.

The impressive box office numbers for "Dune 2" come after viewers spent the past few days raving on X about the film, which focuses on Chalamet's character, Paul Atreides, who joins forces with the Fremen and tries to avenge his father’s death.

On X, one person said they loved seeing the visuals in the movie.

"Dune 2 is probably the greatest theater experience of my lifetime. Literally the peakest of peak," they wrote.

Another said they were going to try and convince everyone they knew to watch the film.

"Convincing my non movie going friends to go see Dune Part 2 multiple times will not be easy but is necessary. We need to convince them one by one. We will start with the weak ones. The ones that fear us. We will make them all believe," they said.

A third compared the second movie to the first, which made $402 million worldwide, per Variety, and said "Dune: Part Two" was a "masterpiece."

"I really enjoyed the first Dune, but HOLY S--T #Dune2 is a f--king masterpiece. Everything about the movie absolutely blew me away."

As for the actors' performances in the film, moviegoers said they loved seeing Chalamet on-screen, as well as Zendaya, who played Chani and Austin Butler, who took on the role of Feyd-Rautha.

"it’s been 24 hours and i’m still thinking about how in dune part two there are several scenes where zendaya and rebecca ferguson don’t even say words but the performance they give are so captivating," the person wrote. "these two stole the movie for me, in a movie jam packed with TALENT"

Another wrote, "Everyone’s talking about Austin Butler but mf Zendaya stole the show for me. Insane performance, like that’s a mf movie star right there!!!"

A third also praised Chalamet's performance in the film and said, "No big deal, just Timothée Chalamet giving an Oscar-worthy performance in #DunePart2."

For the most part, it seemed like moviegoers loved the film from beginning to end. Now, fans are eager to see if Warner Bros. will announce another sequel, even though the film did not have end credits scene.

In a Feb. 22 interview with the Los Angeles Times, director Denis Villeneuve said he always imagined "Dune" to be a three-part movie.

“When I embarked on the ‘Dune’ journey, I proposed that it could be three movies. I absolutely love ‘Dune Messiah’ and that is in the works,” Villeneuve said, referring to the second book in the series.

However, he noted that if Warner Bros. gives him the green light to make the film then that'll probably be the last movie he'll ever make.

“When people ask me, ‘After 'Dune Messiah' will you be done with 'Dune'?’ I say yes because at that point it will have been almost 10 years of my life. It’s healthy to think that there’s an end to this. But one thing at a time. After ‘Dune Messiah,’ ask me again and we’ll see," he said.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com