Denis Villenueve has admitted that any hopes of a Dune sequel hinge on how well next month’s epic performs at the box office, and the filmmaker has just gotten a huge boost now that the latest adaptation of Frank Herbert’s seminal novel has been approved for release in China, as per Deadline.
The world’s largest market for cinema has rebounded a lot faster and stronger than business on domestic shores, and big budget Hollywood fantasy typically tends to play well in the country. Getting past the notoriously strict censorship board could prove pivotal to Dune‘s chances of box office success, so that second installment could end up getting the green light sooner rather than later.
No Time to Die has also been confirmed for a Chinese theatrical rollout, which is a bonus for Eon Productions, with reports claiming the 25th installment in the long-running spy saga needs to get within touching distance of $900 million just to break even. The pair will premiere in consecutive weekends, with Dune touching down on October 22nd before 007 returns seven days later.
While China is welcoming more American productions than at any point during the last eighteen months, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is still locked out. There’s no word on Black Widow ever seeing the inside of a local multiplex, while Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and Eternals will likely be blacklisted after comments made by the former’s star Simu Liu and the latter’s director Chloe Zhao.
