Summary

• Denis Villeneuve's success with Dune: Part Two shows his ability to expertly handle beloved sci-fi stories and add to their legacy.
• Villeneuve's earlier financial disappointments, particularly Blade Runner 2049, are overshadowed by the massive box office success of Dune: Part Two.
• Despite Blade Runner 2049's critical acclaim, marketing missteps and a long runtime may have contributed to its disappointing box office performance compared to Dune: Part Two.

Denis Villeneuve's Dune: Part Two has been a wild critical and commercial success, highlighting just how disappointing the reaction to an earlier sci-fi epic from the Canadian director really was. Completing the saga of Paul Atreides and resolving the cliffhanger left after his original 2021 Dune movie, the film proves that Villeneuve is more than capable of expertly handling a beloved sci-fi story and adding to its legacy. For all his critical success, however, Villeneuve's credentials in this space were arguably in doubt after a surprising failure in 2017.

Unlike some of his contemporaries, Villeneuve's most critically successful sci-fi movies was a bonafide box office bomb – a performance that seems even worse post-Dune: Part Two.

Dune 2's Success Makes Blade Runner 2049's Box Office An Even Bigger Letdown

After just one week in theaters, Dune: Part Two has almost overtaken the entire box office haul of Villeneuve's legacy sequel Blade Runner 2049. Made on a budget of between $150-185 million, the movie made just $267 million globally, making it a financial disaster when factoring in additional marketing and promotional costs. Given that, pre-Dune, this was the first time that Villeneuve had been given such an extensive budget to realize his vision, it was felt in some quarters that Blade Runner 2049's failure proved that the director's style was too esoteric for mass market appeal.

Dune: Part Two, however, proves that this couldn't be further from the truth. The movie's opening massively eclipsed both the original Dune and Blade Runner 2049, making $182.5 million globally over its three-day opening weekend. Considering the extent to which Blade Runner 2049 underperformed expectations, Dune: Part Two box office success not only cements Denis Villeneuve's credentials as a blockbuster director, but makes his earlier film's failure even more frustrating.

Why Blade Runner 2049 Bombed At The Box Office

In many ways, Blade Runner 2049's failure was a mystery. Before it reached theaters, box office projections had been incredibly healthy, with the film expected to make between $43-47 million in its opening weekend (via Deadline). Had it met these expectations, the movie might likely have outstripped Dune (2021), based on the latter film's figures. Denis Villeneuve himself was baffled. As he told the Montreal Gazette:

“It’s a mystery. All the indexes and marketing tools they were using predicted that it would be a success. The film was acclaimed by critics. So everyone expected the first weekend’s results to be impressive, and they were shocked. They still don’t understand.”

Marketing for Blade Runner 2049 leaned heavily into the film's connection with the 1982 original, relying heavily on nostalgia for a classic but not universally popular movie.

However, despite this sense of mystery, there are some clear potential reasons behind the film's poor performance. For starters, marketing for Blade Runner 2049 leaned heavily into the film's connection with the 1982 original, relying heavily on nostalgia for a classic but not universally popular movie. There was also the film's extended runtime, which ran to 163 minutes. This limited the number of screenings that could be put on, further limiting the film's box office potential. Even though Blade Runner 2049 enjoyed critical acclaim, there were clearly several factors working against it.

Blade Runner 2049 Deserved As Much Box Office Love As Dune 2

Despite its commercial failure compared to Dune: Part Two, Blade Runner 2049 was arguably just as deserving of financial recognition. The movie received extremely positive reviews, receiving an overall score of 88% on Rotten Tomatoes. It also represented the continuation of a beloved and influential sci-fi franchise – although its inspiration was much further in the past than Dune: Part Two's.

Perhaps most frustrating for Blade Runner 2049 advocates is that the movie is arguably a better example of many of the hallmarks that Villeneuve's Dune: Part Two is now being praised for. Just as the 2024 sequel is being praised for arresting, spectacular visuals, Blade Runner 2049 contains perhaps the director's most haunting and epic work. K's arrival in ruined Vegas, for example, is just as grand and awe-inspiring as anything in Dune: Part Two. Given the importance of Frank Herbert's Dune novel, the movie's success was perhaps inevitable. However, from a technical perspective, Blade Runner 2049 deserves as much respect.

Sources: Montreal Gazette, Deadline