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‘Dune: Part Three’ Ticket Queue Overwhelms BFI IMAX in London

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IMAX 70mm has become the hottest ticket in cinemas this year. Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’ set the tone, with IMAX reporting record pre-sales of $50 million for that film. ‘Dune: Part Three’ has borrowed the same playbook, putting its 70mm tickets on sale months ahead of release, and the demand has been intense.

The format matters because the film was built for it. ‘Dune: Part Three’ is the first in the franchise to be partially shot with IMAX film cameras, while cinematographer Linus Sandgren captured the desert sequences in IMAX Digital. Director Denis Villeneuve has described IMAX as the most immersive format, and the first batch of 70mm tickets in April reportedly sold out in just under 3 hours.

Tuesday, October 20, brought the next test. General pre-sales opened worldwide for all formats and time slots, and tickets for the BFI IMAX in London went live at 9 am for the early IMAX 70mm screenings from December 15.

According to film journalist Luiz Fernando, who has been tracking the sale on X, more than 76,000 people were still in the virtual queue 20 minutes after it started. His screenshot showed a queue number of 76,701 with 75,922 users ahead and an estimated wait of more than an hour.

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Fernando estimates that the BFI would need 96 screenings just to meet the demand he saw, but that the theater could physically hold only 5 per day because of the film’s runtime. That is his own back-of-the-envelope math rather than an official figure, but it shows why most of the tickets were expected to disappear quickly.

Other users reported similar scenes. One person on X alleged there were at least 65,000 people in the BFI queue within the first minute, according to LADbible. Others celebrated securing tickets after waiting in the line all morning.

The BFI’s earlier sales followed the same pattern. Tickets for the main 70mm screenings on December 18, 19 and 20 vanished within minutes, and Fernando noted that a previous sale sold out in 3 minutes. The BFI has confirmed that more 70mm tickets will be released later this year.

Part of the frenzy comes down to supply. The IMAX 70mm release is limited to 3 cinemas in the UK: the BFI IMAX and the Science Museum’s Ronson Theatre in London, plus Vue Manchester Printworks. Worldwide, only 40 venues are screening the film in 70mm.

The runtime adds another wrinkle. The film was listed at 2 hours and 20 minutes when IMAX tickets first went on sale, and AMC has since updated its listing to 2 hours and 30 minutes. A longer movie means fewer showings per day on the same screen, which makes every seat count.

Demand for the format has been strong for a while. Part Two grossed $32.2 million globally from IMAX screens in 2024. That success also helps explain why resale sites have already listed seats from earlier sales for steep prices, and why some fans have complained about the scramble.

The ticket rush also sets up a battle for premium screens. ‘Dune: Part Three’ opens on December 18, the same day as ‘Avengers: Doomsday’, and it reportedly holds IMAX exclusivity for 3 weeks. Early-access Dune Insider screenings begin on December 14 in IMAX 70mm, then expand to digital IMAX the following day.

If the queues are any indication, the finale of Villeneuve’s trilogy is poised for a strong start at the box office. The film is based on ‘Dune Messiah’ and stars Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya, and fans clearly want to see it on the biggest screen possible.

How far would you go to see ‘Dune: Part Three’ in IMAX 70mm?

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