Summary
- IMAX CEO Rich Gelfond expresses disappointment over the delay of Dune: Part Two‘s release but sees potential benefits for other fall films.
- The delay will likely have a major impact on IMAX’s expected gains from the sequel, as the first Dune was a significant box-office success for the company.
- With Dune: Part Two delayed, other films like Killers of the Flower Moon have a chance to perform better at the box office, and IMAX can explore other opportunities for screen time.
IMAX CEO Rich Gelfond is dismayed at the delay of Dune: Part Two’s release date. Dune: Part Two was just recently announced to be delayed until 2024, but talks of this delay have been circulating for over a month now. Back when the delay was rumored, Gelfond previously expressed confidence that Dune: Part Two would stay on schedule, despite reports of a delay.
Speaking on The Town with Matthew Belloni, Gelfond responds to Dune: Part Two’s delay. While Gelfond claimed that he was “disappointed that Dune moved,” the CEO seemed to think it is not all bad. Gelfond pointed out that there is still a full slate scheduled for the end of 2023, and that Dune: Part Two’s move may even help other fall films—such as Killers of the Flower Moon and The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes—that may have been overshadowed by Dune: Part Two had it released on schedule. Check out the full quote from Gelfond below:
You know, I was disappointed that Dune moved because I really, I’ve heard great things about the movie, I know Denis Villeneuve pretty well, I’ve met with him about the movie, talked to Warner Bros. a lot about it. But fortunately, because we’re a single screen, we have a lot of flexibility. Dune moves, we’re gonna play The Marvels, we’re gonna play Hunger Games, we’re gonna give more screen time to Flower Moon than we could have, so it’s not as big a deal as it otherwise would have.
Looking into 2024, we got Dune in March, which we’re really looking forward to[. . . .] As disappointed as I am, we go from having to choose 1 out of 3 to being able to do 3 out of 3, so I’m not exactly crying in my basement in the fetal position. We did 22% of the global box office on the first Dune, so I think it is going to be a big hit again for us. It will just be a ‘24 hit, and I think what we’re playing now we’re excited about it. And in fact, I just read an article this morning that the fact that Dune moved should increase the box office for the other films, and since we’re part of those other films, that will be a decent result for us.
How the Dune 2 Delay Impacts The 2023 Box Office
As Gelfond explains, the first Dune had a major box office impact when it hit theaters in 2021. With Dune: Part Two continuing the fantasy saga and increasing the scale from the first Dune, the sequel would likely have been another huge win for IMAX. Thus, Dune: Part Two’s delay will, regardless of Gelfond’s silver lining spin, almost assuredly be a huge hit for IMAX, as the company was expecting huge gains from the film.
If 2023’s box office has shown anything, it has shown that audiences are shifting their viewing preferences and willing to go for films that historically wouldn’t have had the same success. The biggest box office success in 2023 has been not the long-awaited sequels to Mission: Impossible or Indiana Jones, but Barbie, which is currently the highest-grossing movie of 2023.
With Dune: Part Two out of the running for 2023, perhaps a film like Martin Scorsese’s 3.5-hour epic Killers of the Flower Moon will gross a higher box office. The gap Dune: Part Two leaves also gives IMAX the chance to re-releasing Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, which previously lost out to Oppenheimer for IMAX screen time. Hollywood films compete for one IMAX screen, so when that screen is diverted away from Dune: Part Two’s domination, a world of possibilities opens up.
Source: The Town with Matthew Belloni
