Alongside being a monumental success and one of the biggest movies of the year, highest-grossing movies of 2024. The project proved to be wildly popular for a variety of reasons, including its incredible performances, story, and visuals, allowing it to reach new heights and make audiences even more hyped for 2026's Dune: Part Three.

Having grossed over $711 million at the global box office, Dune 2 made the franchise bigger than ever, making it no surprise that a spinoff show titled Dune: Prophecy has been greenlit. Denis Villeneuve's sequel is the ultimate example of a blockbuster done right, but its incredible achievements and triumphs have exposed a massive problem with recent action films. Not only was Dune: Part Two a modern masterpiece, but it became such a huge success while avoiding a mistake that most current blockbusters keep repeating, and the problem has only gotten worse throughout the past decade.

Dune: Part Two's $190 Million Budget Is Surprisingly Small

$190 Million Is Relatively Small Compared To Other Major Blockbusters

While a $190 million budget may seem relatively large on paper, it is actually pretty small compared to most other blockbuster movies. With the first film costing $165 million, the small increase is incredibly impressive considering the COVID costs and visual improvements, alongside adding some huge new names. Dune 2's cast included newcomers such as Florence Pugh, Christopher Walken, Austin Butler, and Anya Taylor-Joy while maintaining some big stars like Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, and Dave Bautista. With the movie containing household names, delivering a compelling story, and nailing its visual elements, $190 million seems very impressive.

Dune: Part Three is set to be the last Dune movie that Denis Villeneuve directs.

Considering $200+ million has essentially become the norm for large action films, the fact that Dune: Part Two managed to stay below this shows how well it utilized its budget. The project likely reused certain CGI elements, set designs, and costumes, but this was the perfect way to avoid unnecessary spending as all these departments still thrived. Movies like Argyle, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, and The Marvels all released within a year of Dune 2 and cost around $200-220 million, yet Denis Villeneuve's movie looked better than all of them, proving modern blockbusters are facing a big problem.

Dune 2's Success Proves Modern Blockbusters Don't Spend Their Budgets Wisely

Dune: Part Two Is Visually Superior To Other More Expensive Movies

Given how expensive mainstream action films have become to make in recent years, Dune: Part Two's success is an indicator that many modern movies are using their budgets poorly. Naturally, large casts full of big names will quickly eat into the budget, but Dune 2 is the perfect example of how you can include massive actors while still delivering a visually stunning film, all for a relatively low price. A bigger budget wouldn't necessarily have added anything to the movie that it didn't already contain, highlighting how crucial it is for other projects to try and follow in Dune's footsteps.

Dune: Part Two's visual superiority over its more expensive competitors indicates that modern blockbusters need to spend more wisely.

With the sequel being arguably the best movie of 2024 and in the conversation for the best film of the 2020s, a big investment clearly isn't everything, and other blockbusters don't seem to be getting the memo. A $200+ million budget already puts exceptional pressure on a project to perform big at the box office, resulting in more money being pumped into advertising costs, creating an uphill battle. Therefore, Dune: Part Two's visual superiority over its more expensive competitors indicates that modern blockbusters need to spend more wisely, otherwise, they will struggle to thrive in such a competitive market.

Why Modern Movie Budgets Have Become So High

Bigger Budgets Have Proven To Be A Successful Risk For Several Franchises

Despite how risky big budgets are, movies have continued to become more and more costly. Inflation is obviously a factor, but the real reason comes from blockbusters trying to be bold when it comes to their cast and visuals. Marvel and DC have had some of the most popular actors in Hollywood appear in their movies, with the likes of the Avengers and Justice League movies often bringing some of the biggest stars together. Fast & Furious has also managed to make their movies an ensemble of incredible actors, showing how important name value is for modern films.

In addition, the use of visual effects and CGI has become more prominent than ever, resulting in studios investing heavily in making their projects as stunning as possible. In the case of Avatar and Pirates of the Caribbean, this has worked out, while it has backfired for other projects. Even though they are some of the most expensive films ever made, Avengers: Endgame and Star Wars: The Force Awakens both grossed over $2 billion, proving these heavy investments can pay off for the right franchises, which is why some movies still take such big risks.

Although Dune: Part Two proved quality films don't require gargantuan budgets, the highest-grossing films of all time tend to cost more than average, highlighting the main reason for blockbusters continuing to get more expensive.