‘Dune: Part Three’ Has Fans Racing to IMAX Months Before Release

‘Dune: Part Three’ is still months away from reaching theaters, but fans are already treating it like an event. Denis Villeneuve’s final chapter in the ‘Dune’ trilogy is seeing huge demand for IMAX screenings, with early ticket sales suggesting that the movie could be heading for a much bigger opening than its predecessor.

The biggest sign of that excitement is coming from premium-format screenings. According to the latest tracking, ‘Dune: Part Three’ has been selling IMAX tickets at an impressive pace, with the film reportedly becoming the fastest movie to sell out BFI IMAX screenings in London. It even passed the record recently set by Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey,’ which has become one of the biggest IMAX successes ever.

The demand has not been limited to London. When IMAX 70mm tickets first went on sale in April, screenings across 11 U.S. cities reportedly sold out within minutes. A second wave of presales in August created another rush, with theater websites struggling to handle the number of people trying to get tickets. For a movie that is still months from release, that is a pretty strong sign that fans want to experience Villeneuve’s finale on the biggest screen possible.

Early box office tracking is also making some bold predictions. Current estimates suggest that ‘Dune: Part Three’ could open to more than $200 million worldwide. If it gets there, it would be a major jump for the franchise and could give Timothée Chalamet the biggest opening of his career.

The previous movie already showed how powerful the ‘Dune’ brand had become. ‘Dune: Part Two’ opened with $81.5 million in North America in 2024 and eventually earned more than $714 million worldwide. IMAX played a major part in that success, with audiences paying extra to see Villeneuve’s huge desert battles and massive sci-fi landscapes in premium formats.

The third movie is also taking things further with its use of IMAX technology. ‘Dune: Part Three’ is only the second movie, after ‘The Odyssey,’ to use IMAX’s newest generation of film cameras. Much of the movie is also expected to use the full 1.43:1 IMAX frame, giving audiences an even larger view of the action.

That connection to ‘The Odyssey’ could be especially important. Christopher Nolan’s movie became the biggest film in IMAX history, earning more than $364 million from IMAX screenings around the world. With that success still fresh in the minds of moviegoers, ‘Dune: Part Three’ could benefit from the growing interest in premium cinema.

There is one major problem, though. Villeneuve’s movie will arrive on December 18, the exact same day as Marvel’s ‘Avengers: Doomsday.’ That puts two huge franchises in direct competition during one of the busiest moviegoing periods of the year. Warner Bros. could have chosen an earlier release date, but the studio has stayed with December 18.

The cast gives ‘Dune: Part Three’ another big advantage. Chalamet returns as Paul Atreides alongside Zendaya, while Jason Momoa, Florence Pugh, Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin and Javier Bardem are also back. Robert Pattinson joins the cast in a major new role. The story is expected to adapt Frank Herbert’s ‘Dune Messiah’ and bring Villeneuve’s planned trilogy to its conclusion.

For now, the early numbers are only predictions. A movie can have huge presales and still fail to meet expectations once it opens. But the demand for IMAX tickets is already difficult to ignore. If the current tracking holds, ‘Dune: Part Three’ could become one of December’s biggest movies and give Chalamet another major career milestone.

With ‘The Odyssey’ proving that audiences are willing to pay more for a true big-screen experience, and ‘Dune: Part Three’ following the same path, IMAX could once again become a major part of the movie’s success. The real question is whether it can beat Marvel when both films arrive on the same day.

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