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“We ran out of seats pretty much globally,” Richard Gelfond told an investors conference about the Denis Villeneuve sequel shot with Imax cameras.
By Etan Vlessing
Canada Bureau Chief
Dune: Part Two sold out on Imax screens on its opening weekend, company CEO Richard Gelfond told an investors conference on Tuesday.
“We ran out of seats pretty much globally,” he told the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Technology Conference during a session that was webcast. Dune: Part Two bowed on 809 Imax screens and raked in $32.2 million in global box office, or a notable 18 percent share. The tentpole will open in China this weekend, with Japan to follow.
Like his friend Christopher Nolan with Oppenheimer, Villeneuve shot part of Dune: Part Two with Imax cameras. “So one in five people in the world decided to see Dune 2 on Imax and I think people haven’t paid enough attention,” Gelfond argued as cinema-goers opted to see the sci-fi thriller in Imax and other premium formats.
Villeneuve’s sequel that stars Timothee Chalamet and Zendaya opened to $82.5 million in North America this past weekend, double the first film and the biggest start of the year to date. It’s a major win for Legendary in broadening the audience for its Dune franchise, and is the biggest opening to date for Villeneuve and Chalamet.
After the success of Mission: Impossible 7 on Imax screens, Gelfond argued Hollywood studio execs are increasingly questioning whether their tentpoles would be shot using Imax cameras and play on its giant screens. He recalled Mission: Impossible 7 on its initial theatrical release “losing steam” when it came off Imax screens.
“I think that was like a wake up call to Hollywood and they kind of said, ‘we’d better lock in the Imax release early. Otherwise we’re going to come up short.’ So that’s been a catalyst for people to date their movies in advance,” the Imax CEO said.
As a result, Imax’s summer 2025 release schedule is already set in stone. “We haven’t publicly announced that yet. We have no room to put any more movies, because the filmmakers and the studios understand that there’s this global march towards premium when people want to leave their house,” Gelfond said.
The Imax chief also discussed artificial intelligence, which he has his eyes on. “I know it’s a cliche, everyone uses it to drive their stock price, but we could benefit a lot of ways from AI,” Gelfond said.
Imax isn’t selling any AI product or putting artificial intelligence experts in its boardroom. But Gelfond said AI tools can be helpful in running his operations. “That’s created enormous efficiencies for us,” he told investors.
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