- Dune: Part Two is set for a November 3, 2023 release with a six-week IMAX run, showing potential changes in the movie industry, favoring non-superhero films.
- IMAX's prioritization of Dune: Part Two over Disney's The Marvels suggests a shift in the industry towards storytelling and inclusion, offering more opportunities for diverse genres and impacting future Hollywood releases.
Denis Villeneuve's much-anticipated Dune: Part Two releases on November, 3, 2023, with a six-week IMAX run, indicating a potentially good change in the movie industry. With Marvel's next theatrical release, The Marvels, scheduled to hit theaters a week later, there was an expectation that Dune: Part Two may be moved to next year to accommodate this. However, IMAX CEO Richard Gelfond confirmed Dune: Part Two won't be delayed.
Dune: Part Two's predecessor Dune was a box-office hit and already proved its lucrative nature as a franchise, with about 20% of the earnings coming from IMAX alone. Not to mention, this success was in 2021 when there were still hesitations about public movie-going as the COVID-19 pandemic was a larger concern. Without the setbacks of the pandemic, and an even longer IMAX run planned, Dune: Part Two could make even more money, indicating how the IMAX experience is not just for superheroes and Disney.
Dune 2 Is Taking Priority In IMAX Over Disney
Richard Gelfond put rumors to bed, confirming Dune: Part Two's IMAX release is on track. In the Q2 IMAX earnings call, transcribed by The Motley Fool, Gelfond explains why a postponement won't happen. "Dune [Part Two] is already in the midst of a marketing campaign. There are trailers out. There are lots of materials out," he said. Gelfond elaborates that a postponement would cost extra money since all that promoting would need to be redone whenever a new date was picked.
While Gelfond acknowledges that The Marvels is a great option to have on standby since it's Marvel, he solidifies that Dune: Part Two takes priority since moving its date would make its competition unclear, potentially damaging box-office sales. Additionally, with The Marvels having limited promotional content so far, mostly due to the SAG-AFTRA joining the WGA strike, the shift away from superhero movies as an automatic IMAX release may not be surprising. The most recent Disney and Marvel releases, while performing well at the box office, don't compare to the speculation that Dune: Part Two could beat Dune's box office success.
IMAX's Dune 2 Plan Could Show The Future For The Whole Industry
Marvel still holds a high standing when it comes to cinematic releases. For instance, The Marvels' prequel Captain Marvel, released in 2019 and grossed just over Dune's mid-pandemic income. This suggests that superhero films while facing potential postponements or less turnout, might have some work to do. As James Gunn, who has active involvement in both Marvel and DC, shares on the podcast Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum, movies need to be about story, less about over-saturated capitalizing on the superhero genre, and should answer the question, "What makes this story different that it fills a need for people in theaters to go see?"
For the industry as a whole, IMAX's favoring of a sci-fi sequel over a Marvel movie indicates perhaps what Gunn is hoping for. By prioritizing films outside the superhero genre, it gives more space for a focus to be on story and inclusion rather than spectacle and action. It seems IMAX echoes this sentiment since Gelfond explains that the IMAX slate for 2023 includes 10 more local language films than originally estimated. Dune: Part Two, while still an English film, opens the door for more diversity in genre, at the very least, across IMAX screens, which could impact how future Hollywood movies get released.