The Marvels fans fume at Dune 2 taking all IMAX screens
Marvel Studios/Warner Bros.The Marvels will be relegated to smaller screens later this year due to Dune 2 booking all of the IMAX theaters for itself – and MCU fans aren’t happy.
Denis Villeneuve’s first Dune movie wasn’t a major box office success, but its $402 million gross and rave reviews showed one thing: there was an appetite for sci-fi with massive scope and high production values.
Its sequel, Dune: Part Two, is due to arrive just one week before The Marvels, the upcoming Captain Marvel sequel. Both are major events in the filmgoing calendar: one is set to be one of the best spectacles of 2023, while the other is a follow-up to a billion-busting superhero film.
However, don’t expect to see The Marvels in IMAX: Dune 2 has exclusivity, much like how Oppenheimer took the screens away from Mission: Impossible 7.
The Marvels won’t be shown in IMAX because of Dune 2
Recent rumors suggested Dune: Part Two could be delayed to 2024 as a result of the actors and writers’ strikes gripping Hollywood. However, IMAX CEO Richard Gelfond assured that “isn’t true… I feel quite strongly that it’s not going to move.”
“If Dune moves, we will just go over to The Marvels – and having a Marvel movie as a backup is not the worst position to be in the world. But in terms of Dune, my own opinion is that it’s highly unlikely to move,” he added.
While it may be a backup, it won’t be sharing the screens. “Dune has a very long run time in IMAX, up to five or six weeks,” Gelfond said, meaning The Marvels will be left with standard showings, with potential for other PLFs like Dolby Cinema.
“This sucks. I totally get that DUNE is the priority (as it should be) but this film DESERVES to be seen in IMAX. I’m all for a delay if they give this movie IMAX screens,” Big Screen Leaks tweeted.
“This makes zero sense to not have The Marvels in IMAX… Marvel it would be better to set this up for success and delay it until after the strike,” another wrote.
“Not the Islamic appropriation film stealing IMAX screens from the first comic book movie directed by a black woman with 3 female leads, I don’t see how y’all can be celebrating this,” a third tweeted.
On the other hand, one user wrote: “Actually huge news. IMAX clearly believes Dune Part 2 will draw more eyes to their screens than The Marvels. Cinema is healing, and the dominance of the MCU is giving way to better films.”
“Much to the lament of angry Marvel heads, it is actually completely fair that a movie designed with IMAX exhibition in mind is taking priority over something destined and designed to be half-watched on Disney Plus a month later by disinterested teenagers,” another tweeted.
One user also shared a clip of Quentin Tarantino talking to Howard Stern about Disney forcing the Cinerama Dome to show Star Wars: The Force Awakens throughout the holiday season when there was supposed to be a two-week split with The Hateful Eight. “I’m excited for The Marvels but I’m not gonna cry about Dune getting all the IMAX screens when Disney has always screwed everyone else over to get movie screenings,” they tweeted.
Dune: Part Two hits IMAX screens on November 3, 2023, and you can find out more about it here. The Marvels is due for release on November 10, 2023, which you can read more about here.
