Wow, I would not have expected it to make more than say Arrival (prepandemic box office). Must be the giant cast and director that got people in seats, because I doubt general public care about "Dune". Also, it made more than bladerunner? nice.
Maybe they want 2nd greenlit so they can add it to their online streaming library to get people to pay $ each month like netflix. Pay money to create content they own, pays dividends over decade (not having to pay another studio for the rights to it).
They greenlit the 2nd movie. I have no idea how, but they did it.
EDIT:
reddit thread on box office dune. EDIT: how do I turn off these inlined or smart links and just post a link only?