To ensure Denis Villeneuve’s Sci-Fi movie Dune does have the advantages of a star-studded ensemble cast and an ideal release date, but there are still steps that the movie’s marketing must take to make certain Villeneuve’s latest does not fall prey to the same fate as Blade Runner 2049.
Dune will be directed by Villeneuve from a screenplay by himself, Jon Spaihts, and Eric Roth, and is set to be the first instalment of a two-part adaptation of Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel of the same name. The film brings together an all-star cast including Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Zendaya, Jason Momoa, Stellan Skarsgård, Javier Bardem and Dave Bautista. A previous adaptation of Dune, David Lynch’s 1984 film starring Kyle MacLachlan, was a box office failure, grossing just $31 million from an estimated $40 million budget; it was also poorly received at the time by audiences and critics alike, despite going on to become somewhat of a cult classic.
Despite positive reviews from critics, Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049 was a financial disappointment, grossing a worldwide total of $260 million against an estimated production budget of $155 million. The stakes now are higher for Dune than they were for the Blade Runner sequel since a box office flop for Villeneuve’s adaptation would likely sound the death knell for Dune’s planned second instalment.
Dune Shouldn’t Be R-Rated Like Blade Runner 2049 Was
While Blade Runner 2049’s disappointing performance at the box office cannot be blamed on its R-rating, it stands to reason that giving Dune as broad an audience as possible can only help it. Though most of Denis Villeneuve’s films have received R-ratings, his highest-grossing film to date is Arrival, a science-fiction film rated PG-13 which received eight Academy Awards nominations, including those for Best Picture and Best Director. Though blockbusters like Deadpool and Joker have shown that R-Rated movies can be box office hits, a lesser-known property like Dune would be better off aiming for a 15 rating or below so as to ensure maximum audience reach.
David Lynch’s 1984 version was PG-13, so one could assume that Dune can work well without alienating younger and family audiences. Blade Runner 2049’s rating also put it in direct competition with blockbusters like It, American Assassin, and Kingsman: The Golden Circle, which slashed deep into the movie’s ticket sales. Villeneuve has made no mention of an intended rating for Dune, only teasing that his movie will be like “Star Wars for adults”. This could mean more explicit and mature content, but there is no way of knowing what rating it will receive until the film is screened and graded by the Motion Picture Association of America.
Dune Needs To Be Less Mysterious Than Blade Runner 2049
Blade Runner 2049 made a mistake when it presumed that audiences were both familiar with Blade Runner and invested enough that simply selling the movie as a Blade Runner sequel would suffice to get people into theatres. Distributor Alcon also proved excessively strict about keeping the plot quiet, so that even early reviewers were forbidden from sharing any specifics of the story, leaving potential movie-goers with little to go on. Likewise, Dune has already been said to be faithful to its source material, so already there is little need for its plot to be kept under wraps.
At the same time, Dune needs to sell itself on more than its grand concepts and sweeping landscapes so as to encourage audiences with no knowledge of Dune’s world to still see it in theatres. It is something which Mad Max: Fury Road and Prometheus did incredibly well, luring in viewers unfamiliar with the Mad Max and Alien franchises by advertising the movies as more than sequels, prequels, or remakes. Dune has something Blade Runner 2049 did not – it was Ryan Gosling’s first big-budget lead role – and must make great use of: a highly marketable cast. Teen heartthrob Chalamet and rising superstar Zendaya will draw in younger audiences; Brolin, Bautista, Momoa, and Isaacs have all had starring roles in Marvel, DC and Star Wars movies and thus have broad audience appeal; while movie royalties Bardem, Skarsgård and Charlotte Rampling lend esteem to this all-star cast. Showcasing this talent is crucial to a marketing strategy that can sell a complex and conceptual sci-fi property to the mainstream market.
Dune Needs To Market Itself Like A Major December Tentpole
Assuming Dune’s release date goes ahead as planned, then the film will be 2020’s big Christmas and New Year fantasy tentpole, a spot previously occupied by the Star Wars and Lord of the Rings franchises and which clearly served them well. This already provides Dune an advantage over Blade Runner 2049’s October release but, for Dune to make the most of its release spot, it must work to sell itself as the next big, new fantasy series, particularly with Star Wars now on hiatus until its next trilogy, and before the Avatar series seizes the title of December tentpole from 2021 onwards.
Once again, Dune’s best asset is its incredibly diverse and marketable cast. Selling Dune as the next big thing in an age when cinema audiences prefer the safe, established options of Disney and Marvel franchises will depend on anchoring this unknown science fiction epic by its recognisable and beloved actors. Likewise, using the film’s marketing campaign to lay the foundations of this new fictional world, with a character guide and a trailer with sufficient exposition, will do much to familiarise potential viewers with this unfamiliar property. Marketing Dune as a coming of age story with universal themes will also aid to ground Dune in the familiar despite its strange premise. Giving general audiences confidence in the movie is key to selling cinema tickets, and gaining that confidence begins by letting viewers know what to expect from Dune.
Keep Dune’s Runtime Shorter Than Blade Runner 2049’s
Blade Runner director Ridley Scott, who was set to direct its sequel until he stepped down as director to work as executive producer instead, blamed Blade Runner 2049’s poor box office performance on the film’s runtime. “It’s slow. It’s slow. Long. Too long. I would have taken out half an hour,” Scott said of its 164-minute runtime; the reviews also focused a lot on its duration, which likely dissuaded casual viewers from a trip to the cinema. Despite longer movies becoming increasingly common, the likes of The Irishman, It 2 and Once Upon A Time In Hollywood were all criticised for what viewers deemed an excessively long runtime.
With Dune being a two-part adaptation, it is hopefully safe to assume it will have a shorter runtime than Villeneuve’s previous film and can therefore be a more attractive option to casual moviegoers. More practically, a shorter runtime increases the number of showings that a theatre can have in a day, which means increased opportunity for box office profits.
Dune Is Still A Major Box Office Risk
Even with all of the above, Villeneuve’s Dune is still a risk. It is not some well-known or beloved intellectual property, and David Lynch’s previous attempt at adapting the novel to film was a flop. While Dune’s budget is unknown, it is safe to assume it is Blade Runner 2049, if not greater. This means Dune already has a huge budget to recoup, which translates into a significant number of ticket sales before it can break even, let alone turn over a profit. Dune’s marketing campaign must strive to emphasise the movie’s accessibility and star power, and must preface the movie with groundwork worldbuilding and character introductions if audiences are to feel confident that they know what their money is buying them.
