Box office
Dunkirk grossed $188 million in the United States and Canada, and $337 million in other countries, for a worldwide total of $525 million, against a production budget of $100–150 million.[12][137] Globally, it became the highest-grossing World War II film (not adjusting for inflation) at the time, surpassing Saving Private Ryan's $482 million,[138][139] until it was surpassed by Nolan's own Oppenheimer in 2023.[140]
In the United States and Canada, industry tracking for the opening weekend ranged from Variety's $30–40 million[141] to Deadline Hollywood's $35 million,[134] while BoxOffice speculated an opening weekend of $55 million,[142] and IndieWire $50 million and $500 million worldwide.[143] Dunkirk made $19.8 million on its first day, including $5.5 million from preview screenings. It went on to finish first at the box office with $50.1 million, marking the third-largest opening for a World War II film (behind Captain America: The First Avenger's $62.1 million and Pearl Harbor's $59.1 million), as well as the fourth-largest of Nolan's career.[108] In its second weekend, it grossed $26.6 million (a drop of 44.3%), beating newcomer The Emoji Movie to the top spot.[108] The film grossed $17.1 million in its third weekend, second to newcomer The Dark Tower ($19.2 million),[108] and was again second in its fourth week, behind Annabelle: Creation with $10.9 million.[108]
The film opened in France on 19 July 2017, and made $2.2 million on its first day. It was released in seven markets the following day, earning an additional $6.3 million, and on 21 July in forty-six more countries, grossing $12.7 million from over ten thousand theatres, including $3.7 million from the United Kingdom.[144] The international debut totalled $55.4 million, including $4.9 million in France, $12.4 million in the UK and $10.3 million in Korea.[145] The film remained number one in the United Kingdom for five weeks.[146] It opened in China on 1 September[147] in the top spot,[148] grossing $30 million from its weekend debut.[149] Its opening weekend in Japan earned $2.9 million from 444 screens.[150]
Critical response
Some critics called Dunkirk Nolan's best film to date[151] and one of the greatest war films ever made.[152][153][154] On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 92% based on 461 reviews, with an average rating of 8.7/10. The website's critical consensus reads "Dunkirk serves up emotionally satisfying spectacle, delivered by a writer-director in full command of his craft and brought to life by a gifted ensemble cast that honors the fact-based story."[155] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 94 out of 100 based on reviews from 53 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[156] According to MRQE, it has an average rating of 86/100, based on 128 critics.[157] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported filmgoers gave it an 88% overall positive score, with 63% saying they would recommend it.[108] The Guardian ranked the film at No. 13 on their list of "The 50 top films of 2017".[158] The Independent named it the 7th-best film of the year.[159] Time magazine included the film on its "Top 10 movies of 2017" list.[160]
Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian awarded the film five out of five and called it Nolan's best to date, saying that he "surrounds his audience with chaos and horror from the outset, and amazing images and dazzlingly accomplished set pieces on a huge 70 mm screen, particularly the pontoon crammed with soldiers extending into the churning sea, exposed to enemy aircraft".[161] Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter also lauded the film, calling it "an impressionist masterpiece" that was "deeply moving" but without "manufactured sentimentality or false heroics". He also praised the score, which "enormously strengthens the film" and "incorporates both sound and music to extraordinary effect".[162] Peter Debruge of Variety praised the plot (although calling Zimmer's score "bombastic"), writing: "[Nolan has] delivered all the spectacle of a big-screen tentpole, ratcheting up both the tension and heroism through his intricate and occasionally overwhelming sound design".[2] Manohla Dargis of The New York Times described the film as a "tour de force of cinematic craft and technique" and lauded Nolan's elastic approach to narrative.[163] She named Dunkirk "the best film of 2017".[164] Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle called it a "triumph" and "masterpiece", commending Nolan's unique approach to directing a war film.[165] The Economist labelled Dunkirk "a remarkable film" and a new classic.[166] Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film four out of four and said it was one of the best war movies of the decade, describing it as "tight, gripping, deeply involving and unforgettable ... triumph in filmmaking".[167] Chris Nashawaty of Entertainment Weekly gave the film an "A", calling it the best of 2017: "By the end of Dunkirk, what stands out the most isn't its inspirational message or everyday heroism. It's the small indelible, unshakeable images that accumulate like the details in the corner of a mural".[168]
Robbie Collin of The Daily Telegraph gave the film five out of five, lauding it as "a work of heart-hammering intensity and grandeur".[169] Peter Travers of Rolling Stone awarded it his first four-star rating of 2017 as "maybe the greatest war film ever", adding: "There's little doubt that [Nolan] has, without sentimentality or sanctimony, raised [the survival film] genre to the level of art ... with the resonant force of an enduring screen classic". He also called it the first major Oscar contender of the year.[170] Michael Medved awarded it four out of four and called Hardy's performance "outstanding", and the action "seamless", declaring: "This is not only the best WWII movie since Saving Private Ryan, it is very simply one of the greatest war movies ever made".[171] Matt Zoller Seitz of RogerEbert.com gave it a score of three and a half out of four, despite not liking the film, stating that he "loathed parts of it and found other parts repetitious or half-baked. But, maybe paradoxically, I admired it throughout, and have been thinking about it constantly".[172] Jacques Mandelbaum of Le Monde praised the film's realism, but was disappointed that it ignores the part played by French troops.[173] Kevin Maher in The Times gave it two out of five, saying: "[Dunkirk] is 106 clamorous minutes of big-screen bombast that's so concerned with its own spectacle and scale that it neglects to deliver the most crucial element—drama." He also suggested that Dunkirk felt like a Call of Duty video game.[174] David Cox of The Guardian felt the film had historical inaccuracies, a paucity of female characters, small scale, a thinly characterised cast and lack of suspense.[175] In the London Review of Books, Michael Wood compared it to the films of Luis Buñuel and commended Zimmer's soundtrack as an effective match to the film.[176]
In 2018, a poll of 150 actors, directors, writers, producers and critics for Time Out magazine saw it ranked among the "100 Best British Films" of all time.[177] The same year, The Washington Post named Dunkirk as one of the "23 best films of the 2000s".[178] Rolling Stone, Total Film and Quentin Tarantino classified it as one of the best films of the 2010s.[179][180][181]
Accolades
The film received the Best Editing award at the 23rd Critics' Choice Awards, and seven further nominations: for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Acting Ensemble, Best Cinematography, Best Visual Effects, Best Score, and Best Production Design.[182][183] It also won the Best Sound award at the 71st British Academy Film Awards as well as seven nominations: for Best Film, Best Direction, Best Original Music, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Production Design and Best Special Visual Effects.[184][185] At the 75th Golden Globe Awards, it received three nominations, for Best Motion Picture – Drama, Best Director and Best Original Score.[186] At the 90th Academy Awards, it was awarded Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing and Best Film Editing, with five further nominations for Best Picture, Best Director,[nb 7] Best Cinematography, Best Original Score and Best Production Design.[188]
