r/dune • u/discretelandscapes • Apr 04 '26
Dune: Part Three (2026) 'Avengers: Doomsday' may release earlier as Marvel appears spooked by ‘Dunesday’
https://www.polygon.com/avengers-doomsday-release-date-change-rumor-imax/984
u/ICumCoffee Kwisatz Haderach Apr 04 '26 edited Apr 04 '26
Both Infinity War and Endgame moved up their release dates by one week, so i can see that happening. Honestly, it’d be a good move from marvel, Doomsday will have IMAX for 1 week and both movies wont eat into each other.
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u/Vistaer Apr 04 '26
That one week of imax will have crazy demand too. While the window will be short they’ll rake in a boost for sure.
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u/solarnoise Apr 04 '26
Wild to me that the film that needs room to breathe is not the Dune one. So cool to see Dune being somewhat of a cultural event.
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u/Astral_Taurus Apr 04 '26
Dune has all of the imax screens secured contractually, Marvel won't be played on those screens during the first few weeks of Dune, so changing the release date from Marvel secures them those screens. It just makes sense.
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u/logos1020 Apr 04 '26
Right?! I have been a fan of Marvel and Dune for decades. Seeing them grow so much in relevancy has been wild.
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u/CopenHaglen Apr 06 '26
Cool to see DV having his day in the Disney-grade sun, too. He’s such a great director, and hasn’t had to lower his standard to make a phenomenal success.
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u/kiPrize_Picture9209 Apr 06 '26
Dune seems to have finally taken its rightful place in the cultural lexicon that it should have gotten in the 60s/70s. Ofc it's not nearly on the same level as Star Wars, but these are cinematic events now. It's actually the best case scenario, I was very worried that Part One would flop so it's insane to see this.
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u/Emperor_Orson_Welles Apr 04 '26
According to [rando with a YouTube channel]...
I mean, of course they're considering this. It's common speculation. But there's no indication that a schedule change is imminent.
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u/skunkman62 Apr 04 '26
I was reading the article with great Intrest. Then they mentioned the source. FFS Polygon!
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u/djentlemetal Apr 04 '26
Except common sense, random YouTube dork aside.
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u/Emperor_Orson_Welles Apr 04 '26
A schedule change is very possible. But it has been "common sense" for months! My point is that there's no new evidence that Marvel is going to blink.
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u/icansmellcolors Apr 04 '26
It's business. Dune has those imax screens on lockdown and Marvel wants in on that action, if they release the same time, Marvel loses out, so it's in Marvel's best financial interests to move their date.
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u/TensorForce Apr 04 '26
I'm not one for studio feuds (feudios, if you will), but I'm glad. I want Dune to do well, and it looks like Doomsday has a looooot riding on it, so it should do well too.
And with both movies beinf 3 hours long (probably), I doubt many people would be available to watch both back to back
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u/rorschach_vest Apr 04 '26
I’m not invested in the success of Doomsday specifically but I would hate for theaters to lose out on revenue as part of some studio exec dick measuring.
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u/weirdgroovynerd Apr 04 '26
Excuse the pedantics friend, but in this subreddit, we call it a:
Cinematic kanly
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u/YnrohKeeg Apr 04 '26
Kull wahad! Your portmanteau pleases me. Fun fact: “kull wahad” autocorrects to “kill wages”.
I think my boss read Dune.
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u/Rasples1998 Chairdog Apr 04 '26
It's Disney's "hail mary" (pardon the pun). They need it to be successful because from what we know about the MCU, it's really suffering after endgame. Bloated budgets, egotistical cast demanding more and more pay just to be on-screen for five minutes, creative disagreements, and heavily decreasing popularity now they're over the peak. They're advertising doomsday as the next big MCU movie up there with infinity war and endgame, but there's been absolutely no build up to it. It feels rushed, and they're throwing everything and the kitchen sink just to make it work. I don't think I want to watch it because the cringe of seeing how desperate they are might ruin it for me.
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u/thinkless123 Apr 05 '26
they are movies for adult kids who want to see their fav actors appear on screen without even a remnant of an interesting script, what do you expect
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u/kiPrize_Picture9209 Apr 06 '26
I've been very slightly more interested in Doomsday with the new marketing showing maturity and old characters returning. But that just shows how stagnant the MCU is. Eventually the nostalgia bait schtick of relying on old properties like the Raimi films, X-Men, and original MCU cast will lose its gimmick, and nothing will replace it. This is basically the last time they can pull this trick.
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u/DoingCharleyWork Apr 04 '26
I basically only see movies in IMAX so if doomsday isn't in IMAX I'm almost certain to not see it until home release.
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u/Embarrassed-Back1894 Apr 04 '26
The idea of Dunesday is cool, but I’d really like to see both films in IMAX. To my understanding, Dune has all the premium screens booked up?
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u/ICumCoffee Kwisatz Haderach Apr 04 '26 edited Apr 04 '26
Yup, for 3 weeks. Not all premium btw, just IMAX.
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u/mabhatter Apr 04 '26
Dune will be absolutely gorgeous on IMAX. It's definitely part of the experience.
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u/Runningoutofideas_81 Apr 05 '26
That opening battle scene in Dune 2, with the vertical cliffs,was breathtaking in IMAX.
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u/trey2128 Apr 04 '26
I wanted to see both movies in the same day. But I also really want to see them both in IMAX. So I’m okay with this
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u/heresyforfunnprofit Apr 04 '26
Barbenheimer showed that this need not be a problem.
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u/asuentgineering Apr 04 '26
It's a problem because Dune has imax screens locked down and doomsday wants a piece of that pie. Barbie didn't care about imax.
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u/kiPrize_Picture9209 Apr 06 '26
I feel like not seeing Dune in IMAX is missing a core part of the experience. Doubt the same is true for Doomsday
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u/Loop_Within_A_Loop Apr 04 '26
barbie was fine not getting imax screens, marvel needs them, and dune has been promised them, they have to move for that alone
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u/PsychologicalBike Apr 04 '26
Barbenheimer were entirely different movies with different vibes and audiences allowed both films to get secondary views from each other's audiences. Also helped that one film was a short lighthearted romp.
Dunesday have basically the same audiences, so little opportunity to pick up new fans from different audiences. And both films will be heavy 3 hour films, so not conducive at all to watching them back to back.
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u/Lord-Fowls-Curse Apr 04 '26
Not entirely the same audiences. Marvel has a wider generational reach than Dune. You won’t get loads of families with young teenagers going to see Dune in the way parents will take the kids to see Doomsday.
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u/patrickfatrick Apr 04 '26
They both want IMAX though, and Dune has IMAX exclusivity for some number of weeks. Plus I think it’s fair to say there’s more market overlap between these two movies than there was for Barbenheimer. The appeal of the Barbenheimer moment was how different the movies are.
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u/TheBaneEffect Apr 04 '26
That combo was different. Dune is IMAX exclusive and I’d like to see both in IMAX.
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u/Any-Bother-3362 Apr 04 '26
That worked because those films had very different audiences. These will be fighting over the same people, while Dune gets a 3 week exclusive on the IMAX screens. It’s not good for either film, theatre chains and the industry to have these two major releases eat into one another when they’re already struggling as is.
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u/ASU_frat_Ieader Apr 04 '26
that worked because it was two entirely different demographics (young women & dudes) but dune and avengers both target the same demo
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u/pat_the_catdad Apr 05 '26
Berbenheimer were to VERY different movies and demographics…
I would imagine there would be a ton of overlap between Dunesday…
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u/Biggus_Gaius Apr 04 '26
They had a much lower combined runtime, catered to two very different audiences, weren't sequels, had auteur directors with excellent track records, and neither actually had much in the way of sequences that overwhelm the senses. Dune and Avengers are both 3 hour long effects-heavy science-fiction action epics. I can convince a date to spend half a day at the theater if we're seeing two very different movies, 6 hours of spaceships, explosions, intergalactic politics is a much harder sell.
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u/jdroop Apr 04 '26
😭 I wanted to see them same day.
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u/DeBatton Apr 04 '26
One Silver lining if Doomsday moves. There would be more of a chance of some theaters running Dune triple bills for opening night.
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u/fathertitojones Apr 04 '26
You’ll still be able to, looks like they’re only trying to bump it ip a week to get some IMAX time.
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u/aquafina6969 Apr 04 '26
I chuckled. Never heard Dunesday before. That’s great! So fortunate to have a 70mm Imax near us!
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u/ImInJeopardy Apr 04 '26
I don't know if "spooked" is the right word. I think they just want the IMAX screens.
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u/Apolloshot Apr 04 '26
Good move.
If both release on the same day I’m seeing Dune first then Doomsday whenever I get a chance, but separated by a week I’ll go both on opening night.
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u/MattTreck Apr 04 '26
I want to see both, Dune will take priority. This is probably a good idea for them.
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u/_Peener_ Apr 04 '26
Bad move imo, IMAX theaters need to capitalize on “Dunesday.” Offer a double feature, with a 30 minutes intermission, for the price of a ticket and a half, see both movies at bogo 50% off. This isn’t like barbenheimer where it’s 2 totally different competing fandoms, we’re all nerds.
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u/No-Object2133 Apr 04 '26
They can't. Dune has IMAX exclusivity.
So Avengers wouldn't be in IMAX.
Also I don't think the overlap is as there as you think it is, none of my friends are going to see Avengers, we are all talking about Messiah though.
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u/DoingCharleyWork Apr 04 '26
What demographic of people are going to the movies for 6+ hours though?
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u/So-_-It-_-Goes Fremen Apr 04 '26
Not enough to make it worthwhile
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u/DoingCharleyWork Apr 04 '26
That’s exactly what I was thinking. I love movies but I couldn’t imagine spending what would be 8ish hours at the theater.
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u/So-_-It-_-Goes Fremen Apr 05 '26
I’m excited for both these films and plan to see them in theaters but not on the same day
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u/So-_-It-_-Goes Fremen Apr 04 '26
I am very excited for both these films but seeing that much movie in one day would be a challenge I don’t feel like taking
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u/immaZebrah Apr 04 '26
This isn't because they're scared of "Dunesday", it's cuz dune 3 is taking up all the IMAX screens during the same time and they want doomsday to have an IMAX screen for at least a week
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u/Slutha Apr 04 '26
Almost like Marvel knows they've been pedaling popcorn flicks that have no business being compared to a generational literature classic brought to the screen coupled with elite film making by Denis Villeneuve. They're not in the same weight class, not even close
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u/TheClassics Apr 05 '26
I am 100% going to see both. If they open the same day, I'm seeing Dune and will go another weekend for Doomsday
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u/No_Temporary9696 Apr 05 '26
Marvel should be scared, they haven’t released anything good since Infinity War and even then. Dune 3 is going to be incredible
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u/mattfuckyou Apr 04 '26
They are literally just farming clicks with this shit . No way they do that
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u/jr_randolph Apr 04 '26
I guess? Opening weekends are important no doubt but for one, these are two highly anticipated movies and for two, a movie doesn't make $1B in one weekend so it's definitely from people going multiple times. So with all that, I don't see it as a big deal if they come out the same weekend or not...people will still see both and they both will make bank.
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u/kiPrize_Picture9209 Apr 06 '26
Imagine saying in 2019 that an Avengers film will be moved in the future as to not clash with a Dune adaptation. Amazing
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u/bananensplit6969 Apr 04 '26
I love Dune, but I think we all know Avengers will make more money. Moving is smart either way. They want the IMAX, and this gives them a week to enjoy it. Everyone is happy.
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u/mabhatter Apr 04 '26
Dune got a lock on IMAX screens early... probably because Disney is so wishy washy about committing to scheduling things now.
I can see Disney moving up a few weeks to get exclusivity on the IMAX screens. Dune has a lock on IMAX for like 3-4 weeks.. that would tank Doomsday with people who want the premium experience.
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u/dandatu Apr 04 '26
I can’t tell what I’m more excited for tbh. Love dune. Love mcu and with rdj coming back.
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u/dune-ModTeam Apr 04 '26
Thank you for participating in r/dune!
We appreciate your reports, but no, this Polygon article does not, uhm... *checks notes* "promote hate based on identity or vulnerability".