'Dune' tops 1 million admissions, sparks renewed interest in best-selling novel

A scene from the film, “Dune” / Courtesy of Warner Bros. Korea

By Kwak Yeon-soo

“Dune,” the latest film adaption of Frank Herbert's classic sci-fi-novel of the same title, has topped a cumulative 1 million admissions here, becoming the 10th movie to achieve the feat this year, data showed Monday.

The sci-fi blockbuster sold a combined 126,000 tickets over the Friday-to-Sunday period, bringing its combined total to over 1 million since Oct. 20, according to the data from the Korean Film Council (KOFIC).

The film became the 10th foreign title this year to reach the milestone in 2021, following Marvel Studio's “Black Widow,” “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” “F9” and “Venom 2.” The film sparked a new wave of interest in the source material, restoring its status as a best-selling science fiction novel. More than 200,000 “Dune” books have been sold this year, according to an official at Minumsa, one of the leading publishing houses in the country.

It stars Timothee Chalamet as Paul Atreides who travel to an extremely dangerous planet called Arrakis, full of giant sandworms and “spice,” a precious resource that endows people with extraordinary abilities. The all-star cast includes Javier Bardem, Zendaya, Jason Momoa and Oscar Isaac.

A total of 1.38 million people came to theaters last weekend as multiplex operators brace return of the audience following the government's “Living with COVID-19” policy that took effect starting on Nov. 1. As a result of the easing, Marvel Studio's “Eternals” also performed well, topping the 1 million mark in attendance four days after its release and accumulating 1.6 million total ticket sales as of Sunday.