Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune: Part Three” is scheduled for release on December 18, 2026 — the same day as “Avengers: Doomsday.” Do we have another “Barbenheimer” on our hands? “Dunesday?” Or will one of these two films shift its release date? More recently, Warner Bros. was said to have no plans to move “Dune 3” from its release slot, noting that they had the date “first.”
Last night, Timothée Chalamet sat down for a Q&A moderated by Robert Downey Jr. Downey heaped praise on Chalamet, going so far as to call the 30-year-old actor “one of the greats” — a great way to boost his ego.
When I was 30, I was making a movie with Norman Jewison [..] I go, ‘Norman, I think I am one of the greats. I want you to tell me if you agree with that.’ He looked at me like I was nuts. He said, ‘Well, Mr. Downey, that remains to be seen.’ And I want to say in front of God and everyone in this audience here with you that as of ‘Marty Supreme,’ it no longer remains to be seen. Let’s hear it for, Timothée Chalamet.
More curiously, near the end of the conversation, Downey addressed the fact that they both have films releasing on the same day this December, and he’s totally onboard the “Dunesday” train.
“We both have films opening on December 18, and we decided to coin it … We’re thinking Dunesday,” Downey told the audience. “We’ll see if we’re still friends by then.”
Matt Belloni recently confirmed on The Town podcast that Warner Bros. has doubled down, saying they claimed the date first and have confirmed they’re not budging or moving ‘Dune 3’ from the December slot. Given the relentless ‘Doomsday’ marketing we’ve been getting these last four weeks, I doubt Disney has any plans to move ‘Doomsday; it either.
If Warner Bros. are really planning to go head-to-head with a potential juggernaut like “Avengers: Doomsday,” then I say: why not? Movie theaters desperately need another “Barbenheimer,” and this would surely do the trick.
Then again, unlike “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer,” the core demo for “Dune” and “Avengers” sorta overlaps, which could make this less of a cultural event and more of a high-stakes box-office showdown for the same audience. That said, get ready for thousands of moviegoer double-bills come December — that is, if Disney or Warner Bros. don’t flinch and decide to move the release date.