Dune 2 has been hailed as the sci-fi highlight of the year. However, just one week after its release, an unexpected opponent appears on the scene in the battle for audience figures: Kung Fu Panda 4
Even a ruler like Paul Atreides can’t stay in power forever, and so Dune: Part Two has already been knocked off the top spot in the weekend box office results in the USA this week: by the children’s film sequel Kung Fu Panda 4.
12 million dollars more: Kung Fu Panda sequel beats Dune 2
After Dune 2 achieved an inspiring box office result of over 82 million dollars in the USA and 178 million dollars worldwide in its first weekend, the audience figures inevitably fall back a little after a week of cinema dominance. However, with a still impressive 46 million US dollars in its second weekend, the sci-fi blockbuster was unable to get past one of its rivals: As the Hollywood Reporter reports, Kung Fu Panda 4 came out on top in the United States over the weekend with US$58.3 million in receipts.
(Dune 2 vs Kung Fu Panda 4)
However, the Dune sequel doesn’t have to worry too much about the strong competition, as the sci-fi film exceeded its own projected box office expectations of 40 million by 6 million in its second weekend. A drop of only 44 percent compared to the previous week is impressive. According to Box Office Mojo, Dune 2 now has a worldwide box office result of 367 million US dollars, which is set to rise even further. (For comparison: Dune 1 made 433 million in its entire cinema run). Dune 3 is considered a certainty
In the video, Kung Fu Panda has already challenged Dune 2
The success of Kung Fu Panda 4 is not entirely unexpected. After all, the first three films had already grossed a total of 1.8 billion US dollars in cinemas worldwide: Kung Fu Panda 632 million, Kung Fu Panda 2 a further 666 million and Kung Fu Panda 3 521 million eight years ago.
The fact that the Dune and Kung Fu Panda franchises share the same film music composer, Hans Zimmer, makes the close release of both sequels all the more amusing. Perhaps this was also the reason why the unexpected cinematic duel between the chosen ones Po and Paul was taken up in advance with a tongue-in-cheek Dune-style Kung Fu Panda 4 trailer. It’s a video in which the gluttonous bear ponders the importance of spice in a desert setting under a dark hood
Watch the Dune 2 trailer for Kung Fu Panda 4 here
In Germany, Kung Fu Panda 4 will not be released in cinemas until this week on Thursday, March 14, 2024
You can stream the first two Kung Fu Panda parts on WOW, Paramount+ and MagentaTV. Netflix and Amazon Prime have Kung Fu Panda 3 in their program. Dune 1 is only streaming on Netflix
