How much did Dune: Part Two cost to make? Details explored as Denis Villeneuve film grabs multiple Oscars

Sci-fi films like Dune: Part Two (and Part One) can be tricky (and costly), but when done right, we get to see something that's a visual treat for the eyes. If not, we have to settle with a Superman from The Flash (2023).

The Denis Villeneuve film has grossed over $700 million, becoming a box office hit despite the expensive budget. That, and five Academy Award nominations, of which they won a couple of them. Their work paid off. All in all, it reportedly took around $190 million for the film to come to fruition.

While that's a collective sum that was needed to produce the film, the lead actors' salaries make up just a fraction of it, with Timothée Chalamet being paid top dollar. There's no specific number, but some unverified reports talk about something around $3 million.

What made the film so cost heavy?

Production was sure heavy capital-wise, as it took $190 million to produce the film. Warner Bros. and Legendary Entertainment co-produced and co-financed it, according to Variety. But add a nearly $100 million promotion budget to it, and you'll get close to $290 million in overall spending.

While a lot went in there, from music to promotion, Dune: Part Two's CGI must've pulled some healthy sum from the budget. Especially when we had some stunning sequences like Paul riding a giant sandworm that almost gave Fremen a heart attack. But their messiah pulls it off anyway, or, well, the CGI team did it. No wonder it won an Oscar for Best Special Visual Effects.

Then there are the large-scale landscapes set on the mythical land of Arrakis and the action sequences in the film; all of it certainly contributed to the giant number. However, the creators should be proud of taking a look back at their work that brought the visual treat to life.

Dune: Part Two is a $700 million beast already and we don't know how much more capital strength it will pull in the days to come. Maybe we should start talking about re-releasing it already.

Where does Dune: Part Two stand among the production heavy giants?

We'll be honest, that's one heavy-budget movie, but Dune Part Two doesn't even come close to the top 50 list of the most expensive films ever made. To this date, Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) stands as the most expensive movie ever made, with a production budget of around $450 million. That was a big success, as it went on to earn a couple billion dollars at the box office.

Another film from the house of Lucasfilm Ltd., Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019), had a budget of around $420 million. However, that earned half of what The Force Awakens raked in. Still, that'll count as a huge success, well, commercially. The same goes for Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018), which was produced for nearly $430 million.

We will bring this bar a little lower to match films having a budget that somewhat matches Dune: Part Two. DC's Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom was made on a budget of over $200 million but underperformed, bringing the DC franchise to an end.

This is where Dune: Part Two (we missed Momoa's Duncan Idaho in it) was lucky, as it already is a blockbuster and is awaiting a sequel that is likely to begin filming this year only.

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Also Read: Who is Lisan al Gaib in Dune Part 2?