Avengers: Doomsday and Dune: Part Three are both opening on December 18, 2026, setting up one of the most anticipated box office showdowns in years. The collision of two of Hollywood’s biggest franchises on the same weekend has industry insiders already calling it “Dunesday,” and with Dune already selling IMAX tickets eight months out, the pressure is squarely on Disney to either move its date or accept a significant premium format disadvantage heading into Christmas weekend.
Disney’s Avengers: Doomsday is the long-awaited return of the Marvel Cinematic Universe to full Avengers-scale storytelling, seven years after Avengers: Endgame broke box office records in 2019. The film arrives under new Disney leadership with Josh D’Amaro at the helm and is expected to be one of the biggest theatrical events of the decade. Warner Bros. has scheduled Dune: Part Three for the same December 18 date, and it comes with a significant tactical advantage. Dune: Part Three has locked in North America’s roughly 400 IMAX screens for three weeks, meaning the premium large format dollars that typically flow heavily toward Marvel blockbusters will be tied up in Dune territory for the entirety of the Avengers opening weekend and well beyond.
Avengers: Doomsday — What We Know So Far
Marvel has been building anticipation for Avengers: Doomsday with a steady stream of trailer releases since late 2025. The first official teaser trailer dropped in December 2025, giving fans their first look at the new chapter of the MCU. Fantasy Land News covered the official teaser trailer release.
A second teaser followed shortly after confirming the return of Thor to the Avengers lineup. Read our Thor teaser trailer coverage. In January 2026, Marvel confirmed the X-Men will appear in Avengers: Doomsday alongside a new trailer, marking the first time mutants will join the wider Avengers roster in the MCU. Read our X-Men confirmation and trailer coverage.
The X-Men confirmation alone makes this one of the most anticipated Marvel films in franchise history. Add in the seven-year gap since Endgame and the complete rebuild of the MCU roster, and Avengers: Doomsday carries stakes that no Marvel film since Endgame has matched.
What Dunesday Means for Theaters
The IMAX situation is the sharpest edge of this conflict. Premium large format screens represent a disproportionate share of opening weekend revenue for blockbusters. When those screens are locked by one film, the competing film has to generate its revenue from standard screens and other premium formats. For a Marvel film expecting Endgame-level demand, losing IMAX is a meaningful hit to its opening weekend ceiling.
Dune: Part Three is not waiting to see if Disney blinks. Tickets are already on sale at IMAX locations across the country, including at Harkins Arizona Mills and 19 other U.S. theaters selling IMAX 70mm tickets eight months ahead of the December 18 opening. That kind of early ticketing push signals Warner Bros. has no intention of moving the date. Fantasy Land News covered the early Dune ticket sales when they went live.
Theater chains are watching the situation closely. Both films drawing massive audiences on the same weekend is theoretically good for the industry overall, but the IMAX exclusivity creates a real allocation problem for exhibitors who want to program both films in the best available format. Industry sources told Status that the situation remains unresolved, and the question of whether Disney moves its date is one of the bigger storylines in Hollywood right now.
The FLN Take
Two of the biggest films of the decade landing on the same date is a problem with a simple solution that neither studio appears willing to take first. Warner Bros. has the IMAX leverage and is actively selling tickets to prove it. Disney has the Marvel brand and a seven-year buildup that creates its own gravitational pull on the calendar. The X-Men showing up in the MCU for the first time adds another layer of cultural weight to Avengers: Doomsday that makes Disney even less likely to yield. Someone has to move. Right now neither side is.
For everything coming to theaters in 2026, including Avengers: Doomsday, The Mandalorian and Grogu, Toy Story 5, Moana, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, and more, visit Fantasy Land News.
Dunesday December 18, 2026: Avengers Doomsday and Dune Part Three Are on a Collision Course
