December 18-20 Set to Become the Most Pre-Sold Weekend in Box Office History

Hollywood has been building toward a genuine box office spectacle for months, and the numbers rolling in ahead of December’s release date are only reinforcing just how massive this holiday season is shaping up to be. Between two of the year’s biggest franchise tentpoles landing on the exact same weekend, the industry hasn’t seen anticipation quite like this in years.

That collision centers on December 18, when Marvel’s ‘Avengers: Doomsday‘ and Denis Villeneuve’s ‘Dune: Part Three‘ both hit theaters simultaneously, a pairing fans have already nicknamed “Dunesday.” What started as scheduling happenstance has quickly evolved into one of the most closely watched box office showdowns of the decade.

According to presale tracking, the December 18-20 weekend is now positioned to become the most pre-sold weekend in box office history, with ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ projected to bring in between $220 million and $250 million in advance ticket sales, while ‘Dune: Part Three’ is tracking toward roughly $50 million of its own.

That kind of combined presale momentum reflects an unusually aggressive rollout strategy from both studios. Disney opened full advance ticket sales for ‘Doomsday’ a full four months ahead of its release, an unconventional move for a major blockbuster, timed to coincide with sneak peek footage shown at San Diego Comic-Con and D23. According to Variety, the film’s first day of general ticket availability generated $16.5 million in presales from just 1,000 premium theaters alone, twice what 2024’s ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ pulled in during its own opening presale window.

The battle for premium formats has become just as significant as the raw ticket numbers themselves. ‘Dune: Part Three’ has locked down exclusive access to IMAX 70mm screens, with limited early screenings already generating dozens of sellouts for opening weekend well ahead of release. Without access to those same IMAX slots, Disney has countered by securing other premium large formats for ‘Doomsday,’ including Dolby Cinema, ScreenX, and Prime 3D screens, effectively splitting the premium theatrical landscape between the two releases.

That competition for screen real estate has created a genuine supply squeeze at some theaters, with exhibitors reportedly adding extra Christmas showtimes to accommodate both films’ overwhelming demand. According to theatrical sources, Doomsday’s first two days of general presales paced roughly 65% ahead of ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’s’ opening presale window, a notable benchmark given that film went on to shatter records with a $360 million domestic opening weekend.

Industry watchers have already started drawing comparisons to 2023’s “Barbenheimer” phenomenon, when ‘Barbie’ and ‘Oppenheimer’ released the same weekend and became one of the defining box office moments of the decade. Analysts note a key difference this time, though: while Barbie and Oppenheimer succeeded partly because they appealed to largely different audiences, ‘Doomsday’ and ‘Dune: Part Three’ share a much larger crossover fanbase, raising questions about how much the two films might cannibalize each other’s ticket sales.

Still, theater executives remain optimistic given the extended holiday runway both films will have to work with. With the release landing right at the start of the Christmas and New Year corridor, exhibition sources believe there’s enough sustained audience turnout over the following two weeks to let both films thrive without one significantly undercutting the other.

For context, the three biggest combined box office weekends in history belong to ‘Avengers: Endgame’ in 2019, ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ in 2018, and ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ in 2015. Given the scale of presale activity already recorded months ahead of release, December’s “Dunesday” showdown appears poised to challenge that list directly.

With both films still months away from their actual debut and presale numbers already breaking records, the real test will come once general ticket sales fully open and audiences start deciding how they’ll split their holiday moviegoing between two of the year’s biggest releases.

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