Look out Barbenheimer, Dunesday looks set to be the next big same-day theatrical event

With Avengers: Doomsday and Dune: Part Three on the horizon, we've got a new name for their eventual clash.
Text: Alex Hopley
Published 2026-01-15

Usually, you don't want big blockbuster movies releasing on the same day. However, if you can make an event of it, it may lead to box office gold. Barbie and Oppenheimer did it, and now it seems Disney and Warner Bros. are set to clash again on the 18th of December, 2026 when Dune: Part Three and Avengers: Doomsday go head-to-head.

At a Marty Supreme Q&A in Los Angeles involving star Timothée Chalamet and Robert Downey Jr., the Doomsday star decided to coin a term for the theatrical event. Downey Jr. calls it "Dunesday." We'll have to see if it catches on like Barbenheimer, but the 2023 event has yet to be replicated despite numerous attempts to do so.

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Barbie and Oppenheimer actually managed to both bring in hefty amounts of box office cash, with the latter movie being one of Christopher Nolan's best-performing features in cinemas. We'll have to see if Doomsday and Dune 3 have this neck-and-neck performance, or if one outshines the other. Considering the sheer amount of nostalgia being pumped into Avengers: Doomsday, we imagine it'll be leading the charge.

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