The Marvels Won't Screen in IMAX Unless Dune 2 Moves

The Marvels is going higher, further, faster — just not in IMAX. Marvel Studios' Captain Marvel sequel won't screen in the premium large format unless Warner Bros. and Legendary's Dune: Part Two, which is scheduled to release one week before The Marvels, moves off its November 3rd release date. Last week, Variety reported the producers behind Denis Villeneuve's sci-fi epic are weighing whether to delay Dune 2 until 2024 in the wake of the actors' strike that will prohibit its star-studded cast, including Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya, from promoting the film if the labor strike extends into the fall.

But during an IMAX earnings call on Wednesday, CEO Richard Gelfond said the Dune sequel is set to have a "very long run time in IMAX" — five to six weeks — meaning The Marvels won't have access to those screens when it opens November 10th. The report that Warner Bros. will delay Dune 2 "is not true," according to Gelfond, who added: "I feel quite strongly that it's not going to move."

"There's another great movie coming out around that time, which is The Marvels from Marvel, and we can't play it because we are committed to Dune," Gelfond said during the call. If Dune 2 moves off its November 3rd date, those IMAX screens "will just go over to The Marvels, and having a Marvel movie as a backup is not the worst position to be in," Gelfond added.

Unlike The Marvels, the follow-up to 2021's Dune was filmed for IMAX. Villeneuve's anticipated sequel is one of a few titles touted on the IMAX website, alongside Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer, which secured an exclusive three-week run in North America; Sony's Gran Turismo (August 11th); and Warner Bros.' upcoming DC film Blue Beetle (August 18th).

"Dune is already in the midst of a marketing campaign. There are trailers out. There's lots of materials out. Denis Villeneuve presented at the IMAX CEO Forum. So, it's kind of out of the gate," Gelfond said. "If you put it back in the gate, you've got to duplicate those expenses at some time in the future." 

Another reason the CEO doesn't expect Warner Bros. and Legendary to abandon Dune's six-week IMAX run: there's only so much IMAX real estate available, especially with other studios eyeing a push to 2024 amid Hollywood's double strikes. It's why Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One only played on IMAX screens for one week, and why box office behemoth Barbie isn't playing in the format at all.

"It was fortuitous that there were no other conflicting projects. But if they were to move that to next year sometime, it's highly unlikely that they would have that amount of run time," Gelfond told investors during the call. "And just to remind you, IMAX was about 20% of the growth on Dune 1."

From a financial perspective, delaying Dune until its cast can promote the film would cost Warner Bros. more than keeping its lucrative engagement with IMAX. "With no disrespect to Timothée Chalamet, are you going to be able to make up for losing the six-week IMAX release?" Gelfond asked. "Are you going to be making up the cost of capital and carrying it for a year? Are you going to move it to an uncertain year when you have no idea what's going to be put against you when they have virtually no competition right now in the marketplace? It doesn't really make any sense."

Dune: Part Two features an ensemble that includes returning cast members Rebecca Ferguson, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård, Dave Bautista, Charlotte Rampling, and Stephen McKinley Henderson; joining them are new additions Austin Butler, Christopher Walken, Florence Pugh, Léa Seydoux, and Souheila Yacoub. It opens only in theaters November 3rd.

Originally dated for July 8th, 2022 before shifting to November 11th, 2022 and then February 17th, 2023, The Marvels moved to July 28th of this year before Disney pushed it off that date to November 10th. Brie Larson and Samuel L. Jackson lead a cast that includes Teyonah Parris, Iman Vellani, Park Seo-joon, and Zawe Ashton.