Zendaya is poised for a huge year in 2024, and Dune: Part Two‘s success is a great sign for her other movie coming out in a few weeks. Zendaya has become one of Hollywood’s brightest young stars in recent years. She achieved box office success with the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Spider-Man trilogy and received awards recognition for her leading role in HBO’s Euphoria. This made her casting in the Dune franchise all the more exciting, even if she was barely in the first movie. Dune 2 better utilizes Zendaya by giving her character, Chani, a much larger role than before.

Dune 2‘s box office has easily been the biggest for any 2024 movie release, giving everyone involved a great amount of success. The movie had a massive $182.5 million opening weekend worldwide, which is more than most of the actors involved have ever experienced. The great box office performance has continued with Dune 2 already making $369 million worldwide. That builds on Timothée Chalamet’s success with Wonka‘s box office and helps solidify his standing as a major star. But, Dune 2 could also help elevate Zendaya’s status if it translates to greater success for her next movie.

Zendaya’s Major Role In Dune 2 Could Bring More People To See Challengers

Most who see Dune 2 will already be somewhat familiar with Zendaya thanks to her other noteworthy roles, but the sequel still gives the actress one of her biggest movie roles to date. Chani is essentially the co-lead of the film, and Zendaya does not disappoint with the extra screen time. It is only natural then to want to see more of her as soon as possible. With Euphoria season 3’s release still unclear, the good news is that Zendaya stars in Challengers, and it comes out in just six weeks.

Challengers is directed by Luca Guadagnino and puts Zendaya in the central role of the romantic sports drama. She plays Tashi Donaldson, a generational tennis prospect who becomes entangled in a love triangle with two male players. The story unfolds after Tashi suffers a potentially career-ending injury and her husband has to compete against his former best friend and Tashi’s former boyfriend. Challengers looks to be another star-making role for Zendaya to dive into and it should satisfy any need to see more of the actress after Dune 2. That could help Challengers break box office records too.

Challengers Is A Very Different Role For Zendaya After Dune 2

The combination of Dune 2 and Challengers gives Zendaya two very different roles to play within a short amount of time. Chani and Tashi are incredibly strong and independent women whose stories involve complicated romantic relationships. Dune 2 shows more of Chani’s agency, but she is still a supporting character in Paul Atreides’ story and follows him when necessary. Based on the Challengers trailers, Tashi is the one in control and manipulating the lives of two men. She’s certainly not as powerful or evil as the Lisan al Gaib, but Zendaya will shine differently than in Dune: Part Two