Imax CFO Explains How ‘Dune: Part Two’ Got Extended Premium Screen Run
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Dune: Part Two opened on March 1, 2024 and played for a guaranteed two to three weeks run on premium Imax giant screens.
But that wasn’t enough, and Denis Villeneuve’s epic for Warner Bros. that starred Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya got an extended run in Imax theaters in April, and not just because fans wanted to see the sequel a second time.
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Imax CFO Natasha Fernandes put the extended premium screen run down to the benefits of appointment viewing — i.e. waiting to see Dune: Part Two in Imax theaters vs. standard movie exhibitors.
In the wake of Oppenheimer, Imax released a limited number of 70-millimeter prints of Dune: Part Two, a box office strategy that earned theater sellouts for weeks on end. And Fernandes reported at an investors conference on Tuesday that fans who couldn’t get a ticket for the opening week waited to get a seat in the following weeks, leading to demand for an extended run in Imax theaters in April.
“That’s exactly back to the appointment viewing. That’s what happened. If you couldn’t get a seat on weekend one, so you waited and you booked week two or week three,” Fernandes told a J.P. Morgan event on Tuesday during a session that was webcast.
She argued Dune fans were willing to wait to see the sequel in Imax theaters. “You just want to experience it and you’re willing to wait for that best experience,” Fernandes said.
And those exhibitors who own and operate Imax screens were rewarded for that audience patience and loyalty. “With the successes of Oppenheimer and Dune, it’s just clearly evident that without having Imax, you won’t perform as well. You have an opportunity to expand your box office by having an Imax location,” Fernandes insisted.
That’s in contrast to major exhibitors seeing some standard auditoriums facing empty seats as overall Hollywood box office fights to get back to pre-pandemic levels. “Anyone who had an Imax location for Dune, for Oppenheimer, probably Deadpool and Joker – particularly the ones filmed for Imax — that’s where you get the big opportunity and the halo effect onto those complexes is evident,” Fernandes added.
Like Dune: Part Two, the Joker sequel was shot digitally and then was in part converted to 70-millimeter prints for a limited release in Imax theaters. “I think we’ll index high. It’s a film-for-Imax title. It’s got film prints and it’s going to go out to some film locations similar to the way Dune was,” Fernandes said of director Todd Phillips’ musical sequel to his 2019 hit Joker.
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