Dune: Part Three has not opened in cinemas yet, but it already holds a box office record that Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey set just months ago. London’s BFI IMAX, the largest cinema screen in the UK, sold 33,000 advance tickets for Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi finale in its first 24 hours of presales. The haul brought in £880,000, beating the £750,000 that The Odyssey earned in its own first day on sale earlier this year.
The record covers first-day presales at a single venue. It does not measure total box office, worldwide earnings, or opening weekend grosses. It measures how fast fans rushed to lock in seats for a film arriving in December 2026.
The Exact Numbers Behind the Record
BFI IMAX released its first-day presale rankings, and the gap between first and second place is clear.
- Dune: Part Three (Denis Villeneuve, 2026) – £880,000
- The Odyssey (Christopher Nolan, 2026) – £750,000
- Dune: Part Two (Denis Villeneuve, 2024) – £366,000
- Oppenheimer (Christopher Nolan, 2023) – £254,000
- Avatar: Fire and Ash (James Cameron, 2025) – £116,000
The Hollywood Reporter put the dollar value of the Dune: Part Three haul at about $1.2 million. Deadline reported the same £880,000 gross as roughly $988,000, reflecting different exchange-rate timings. The pound figure is the one the venue and trade papers agree on.
The 33,000 tickets sold in one day is the highest first-day presale count in the venue’s history. The record was previously held by The Odyssey, which sold 28,000 tickets in its first 24 hours and grossed £750,000 at the same screen.
Why One Cinema Screen Matters So Much
BFI IMAX is not an ordinary multiplex. It is the UK’s largest screen and one of a small number of venues worldwide capable of projecting IMAX 70mm film. That format has become a selling point for directors who want audiences to see their movies in a specific, high-resolution presentation.
Dune: Part Three will screen at BFI IMAX on a 70mm IMAX print. The British Film Institute described the presentation as a “pristine” print, continuing its work of preserving celluloid and supporting filmmakers who champion the format.
The film is the first in the Dune franchise to be shot partly with IMAX film cameras. Cinematographer Linus Sandgren captured the desert sequences in IMAX Digital. Villeneuve has called IMAX the most immersive format, and the early ticket demand suggests audiences agree.
The Odyssey Set a High Bar Earlier This Year
The Odyssey arrived on July 17, 2026, and turned BFI IMAX into one of the most profitable cinema screens in the world. The venue’s three-day opening weekend gross came in at £219,867 ($296,147), the biggest opening weekend result of any IMAX venue in the UK and international markets.
By mid-August 2026, BFI IMAX had sold more than 101,000 admissions for The Odyssey, generating £2,683,987 from a single screen with a 95% occupancy rate across all showtimes on sale. That made it the cinema’s highest-grossing film ever.
The Odyssey went on to earn about $1.8 billion worldwide, with a large share coming from premium large-format screens. The film’s IMAX haul alone passed $534 million, making it the highest-grossing IMAX release in history.
A Presale Record Eight Months in the Making
Dune: Part Three tickets for IMAX 70mm screenings went on sale roughly eight months before release. The strategy paid off. Three opening-weekend screenings at BFI IMAX sold out in under an hour in April 2026. Two preview screenings also sold out earlier in October 2026.
The BFI IMAX will show Dune (2021) and Dune: Part Two (2024) from December 11, 2026, leading into the third film. The Part Two screening will use an IMAX 70mm print. Preview screenings of Dune: Part Three begin at BFI IMAX on Tuesday, December 15, 2026, in IMAX 70mm.
What Dune Part Three Is About
Dune: Part Three adapts Frank Herbert’s Dune Messiah. The story picks up 17 years after Paul Atreides took control of the Imperium. Paul faces the consequences of his reign as old allies return, new threats emerge, and betrayal builds around him. Visions of imperial collapse and the reappearance of Chani pull him into a conspiracy with his lost love at the centre.
Timothée Chalamet returns as Paul Atreides. Zendaya returns as Chani. Florence Pugh, Rebecca Ferguson, Anya Taylor-Joy, Javier Bardem, and Josh Brolin also return. Jason Momoa comes back in a surprise return. Robert Pattinson joins the cast as a villain.
The film runs 2 hours and 20 minutes, the shortest of the trilogy. Villeneuve has described it as more intense and more emotional than the first two films. Early footage shown at CinemaCon in April 2026 earned comparisons to Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan for its opening battle sequence.
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Release Details for Global Audiences
Dune: Part Three opens in North America on Friday, December 18, 2026. International audiences get the film starting Wednesday, December 16, 2026. UK previews at BFI IMAX begin on December 15, 2026. The film opens day-and-date in India, Australia, Canada, and most global markets across the December 16 to 18 window.
The film shares its December 18 release date with Avengers: Doomsday. Warner Bros. secured an exclusive three-week IMAX window for Dune: Part Three, which means Doomsday cannot screen in IMAX format during that period.
Also Read: Dune 3 First Look Images Show Anya Taylor-Joy as Grown Alia Atreides and Confirm a 17-Year Time Jump
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