‘Avengers: Doomsday’ Presales Are Reportedly Exploding Overseas, Leaving ‘Dune: Part Three’ in the Dust

December 18 is shaping up to be the biggest box office showdown of the year. ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ and ‘Dune: Part Three’ open on the same day, a clash fans have dubbed “Dunesday,” a nickname Robert Downey Jr. himself has joked about.

Both films have already broken new ground in advance ticket sales. Disney opened Infinity Vision presales for ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ a full 4 months ahead of release, and according to Variety, it pulled in $16.5 million on its first day from just 1,000 premium theaters, twice the first-day presales of ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’.

Now there’s fresh evidence of the hype outside the US. According to a report from Bulgarian box office tracker Simionski, shared on Box Office Theory and circulating on Reddit, ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ is having astonishing presales in Bulgaria, matching ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ at T-10 and leaving ‘Dune: Part Three’ far behind.

The Bulgarian tracker noted that ‘Dune: Part Three’ is still keeping pace with ‘The Odyssey’ at the same stage. But ‘Doomsday’ is in a different league entirely, according to the report. Simionski believes the extended opening weekend record in Bulgaria, currently held by ‘Furious 7’ with 102,000 admissions, has a decent chance of falling.

If that happens, the country could see another film reach 300,000 total admissions this year, since the tracker doesn’t expect a multiplier below 3 times the opening with this holiday calendar.

New trailer for ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ In theaters December 18 https://t.co/1wsiTk1Nnv

— Culture Crave 🍿 (@CultureCrave) August 15, 2026

The timing makes the numbers even more striking. The tracker explained that presales for even major event films in Bulgaria usually open just 3 to 4 weeks before release, making it remarkable that these 2 films are selling this strongly almost 3 months out.

Simionski even suggested December 18 could become one of the biggest weekends of all time in the country. If both films keep up the pace, it could kick off an exceptional holiday season at the box office.

The Bulgarian data mirrors what’s happening stateside. Disney executive Hugh Johnston said last month that ‘Doomsday’ had already passed $50 million in presales 3 months before release, pointing to huge excitement among Marvel fans.

Disney also revealed that 70% of advance tickets sold so far were for premium Infinity Vision screenings. The label was created to guide Marvel fans toward premium formats outside of IMAX, which is exclusively screening ‘Dune: Part Three’ in December.

Box office analyst portal Global Box Office has projected a domestic opening between $260 million and $300 million for ‘Doomsday’. Meanwhile, ‘Dune: Part Three’ is eyeing a franchise-record debut of more than $100 million after earning $10 million in presales.

Denis Villeneuve’s final entry in the trilogy shouldn’t be underestimated. Warner Bros. locked up IMAX screens for 3 weeks around the shared release date, and limited 70mm IMAX presales have already produced dozens of opening-weekend sellouts.

The film also opens internationally starting December 16. ‘Dune: Part Two’ earned well over $700 million worldwide, and some observers believe the finale could become a $1 billion hit. Screen capacity remains the big question. With ‘Dune’ and other holiday titles in theaters, multiplexes won’t be able to devote as many screens to ‘Doomsday’ as they did for ‘Avengers: Endgame’ in 2019.

The matchup has drawn inevitable comparisons to 2023’s “Barbenheimer,” when both ‘Barbie’ and ‘Oppenheimer’ thrived after opening on the same day. Many analysts expect “Dunesday” to set a new domestic weekend record. If the Bulgarian numbers are any indication, international audiences are just as eager. December 18 can’t come soon enough for fans of both franchises.

Have something to add? Let us know in the comments!