Unless Dune: Part Three breaks a five-year-long trend for the film franchise and its releases, it seems the movie is set to break a $1 billion box office mark in 2026. The lineup of major movies set to release in December 2026 is a daunting and impressive one, as Dune: Part Three and Avengers: Doomsday will release within days of one another in this time period.
With a major box office competition on the horizon, it should prove fascinating to see how these movies fare, and what impact they have on the wider franchises they are a part of. That said, given Dune’s recent film forays, the trajectory of the series does currently seem to spell box office success for the story of Dune: Part Three itself.
The Trajectory The First Two Dune Movies Lay Out Bode Well For Dune: Part Three’s $1B+ Box Office Hopes
The 2021 Dune established the potential for follow-up sequels not just because of its largely positive reviews, but also thanks to its $429 million box office results, which meant the movie garnered around 2.6 times its reported budget (as per The Numbers). The series’ success was further cemented with the box office results of Dune: Part Two, which then went on to make $715 million worldwide.
Given Dune 2 made close to double the box office of the first film in the series, Dune: Part Three following suit with a comparable increase would place it well into the $1 billion box office region.
While it’s less likely that Dune 3 will obtain a full $1.4 billion, the third entry in the franchise netting around another $300 million certainly seems possible, as this is already roughly the difference between Dune and Dune 2‘s box office results, and this third chapter of the series is set to adapt the climactic finale of the second book in the Dune novel series.
Given the 2026 book adaptation is sure to reimagine this story-defining part of the narrative in dramatic fashion, it’s easy to see how it could be a film that feels like even more of a must-watch during its theatrical release – especially as the success and praise for the first two films is sure to have captured new fans who saw the first two films via streaming, and now may be willing to see the third chapter in the cinema.
Dune 3 Netting $1B At The Box Office Would Cement Its Potential As A Full Extended Movie Franchise
Dune: Part 3 is arguably more important for the wider Dune franchise than even the installments that came before it because of the section of the series’ story that it covers.
The ending of the second Dune book contains a finale that could allow the series to work as a trilogy, or otherwise let it unfold further and adapt the full range of the full central book series. Indeed, if the franchise saw consistent enough levels of success, it’s not unfathomable to think the entire twenty-plus collective Dune book series could be adapted, especially given we’ve already had a Dune spinoff show.
As such, it seems if Dune: Part 3 can net itself a $1 billion box office result, this will have a significant impact on the trajectory and future of the wider franchise, and would no doubt heavily influence any plans or conversations about adapting the rest of the wider source material surrounding Dune itself.
