One of the pleasures of following the production of Hollywood blockbusters is the annual game of release date chicken. Rarely do studios allow to gigantic movies to stay on the same date, but increasingly we’re seeing a refusal for one to be the first to move. We’re in the middle of another such showdown right now, as Avengers: Doomsday and Dune 3 are both set to open on December 18th. Are you ready for “Dunesday”?
Somebody’s gotta go, right? Well, maybe not. So far, neither Disney or Warner Bros. has expressed any interest in moving their films. And now, the gauntlet has been thrown by none other than Robert Downey Jr., who moderated a Q&A with Timothee Chalamet, calling the Marty Supreme actor “one of the greats.” A bit early for that, mate.
Towards the end of the conversation, Downey began talking about the fact they have competing movies opening on December 18th, and that he’s ready for the “Dunesday” battle for box office supremacy.
“I’m officially kicking off my Avengers campaign,” Downey announced. “And I just want to let it be known that we’re… We decided because…we both have films opening on December 18th, and we decided to coin it… We’re thinking ‘Dunesday.’”
Dunesday. It’s like Barbenheimer, only a bit dumber. Also, unlike Barbie and Oppenheimer, which had two vastly different audiences, Avengers: Doomsday and Dune 3‘s fans will overlap. There’s a chance one movie will be severely hurt by the other, at least for a time. The likelihood is that Dune will get off to a slower start, but rebound in following weeks.
That said, movie theater exhibitors will fucking love it. Imagine how packed those multiplexes are going to be!
