Robert Downey Jr. and Timothée Chalamet launch 'Dunesday' trend

After Barbenheimer, is Dunesday the next hit? That’s the wish of Robert Downey Jr. & Timothée Chalamet as Dune: Part Three and Avengers: Doomsday hit theatres on December 18.

Both actors were at a special event in LA for a viewing of Chalamet’s A24 film Marty Supreme.

Downey Jr. joked, “We both have films opening on December 18, and we decided to coin it … We’re thinking Dunesday.’”

The audience chuckled at this, and Downey Jr. continued, “We’ll see if we’re still friends by then.”

The hope is that both films can mutually boost their box office returns and revel in their shared success later.

This strategy paid off for Barbie and Oppenheimer, which collectively grossed nearly $2.5B worldwide when released in 2023, leading to the Barbenheimer trend.

Subsequent dual releases have attempted similar success, though with less impact. A prominent attempt was Glicked, combining Wicked with Gladiator II.

Joe and Anthony Russo’s prior Avengers movie, Endgame, ranks as the second-highest money-maker globally at $2.8B. Dune: Part Two earned $715M worldwide.