So, Timothee Chalamet and Robert Downey Jr. have a movie releasing on the identical day, and like every good Hollywood duo, they’ve already give you a ship identify for it. When Dune: Half Three and Avengers: Doomsday hit theatres on December 18, followers can count on a brand-new phenomenon referred to as “Dunesday”.
The massive announcement
The 2 actors appeared collectively in Los Angeles on Wednesday throughout a particular screening of Timothee’s A24 movie Marty Supreme. On stage, Robert shared the lighthearted second that’s now setting the web abuzz. “We each have movies opening on December 18, and we determined to coin it … We’re pondering Dunesday,” he advised the viewers, prompting laughter throughout the room. He added with a smile, “We’ll see if we’re nonetheless mates by then.”
The identify is a playful nod to their upcoming releases — Dune: Half Three, the following chapter in Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi epic, and Avengers: Doomsday, Marvel’s much-awaited follow-up underneath the Russo brothers’ banner.
The brand new-age field workplace battle
The concept behind Dunesday is easy: To create pleasant competitors whereas boosting each movies’ field workplace prospects, simply as Barbie and Oppenheimer did in 2023. The Barbenheimer phenomenon turned one of popular culture’s largest crossover moments, with the 2 movies collectively incomes near $2.5 billion worldwide.
Hollywood has since tried to duplicate that success, from Glicked (a mixture of Depraved and Gladiator II in 2024) to different same-day premieres that by no means fairly captured the identical frenzy. However this time, with Robert and Timothee main two of probably the most anticipated blockbusters of the last decade, expectations are excessive.
The stakes are sky-high
If historical past is any indication, the numbers could possibly be huge. The Russo brothers’ Avengers: Endgame (2019) stays the second-highest-grossing movie of all time with $2.8 billion globally, whereas Dune: Half Two (2024) earned a powerful $715 million worldwide.
With each franchises returning in December 2026, Dunesday won’t simply be a intelligent nickname; it may probably mark the largest field workplace showdown since Barbie met Oppenheimer.