We're offering a 2-week trial of WrapPRO for $1. If you’ve been wanting to check out our full coverage, now’s the time. Greetings!Could we see another "Barbenheimer" phenomenon in December? The lucrative pre-Christmas slot is shaping up to be one of the most competitive box office weekends in years with Walt Disney's "Avengers: Doomsday" and "Dune 3" — two of the most anticipated films of the year — coming out the same day. But capturing the lighting in the bottle that "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" summoned may be difficult. The two films were going after entirely different audiences. The dramatic tonal shifts between the colorful and poppy "Barbie" and the sober realism of "Oppenheimer" was striking enough to fuel memes and viral excitement for the idea of watching both films back to back. While the respective leads of “Doomsday” and “Dune 3,” Robert Downey Jr. and Timothée Chalamet, have given their blessing to the meme “Dunesday,” it's less clear if that lightning will strike twice. Both are massive epic blockbuster films, skewing to similar demographics, i.e. dudes. Which begs the question of whether the two will encourage more ticket sales or cannibalize each other. That's an important question for the theater industry, which is counting on these two films to end the year on a strong note as it tiptoes its way back from the pandemic and strike-related lows. But, as our Jeremy Fuster reports, there is a way for both films to be successful, especially given the longer holiday break following their debuts that have allowed past mid-December debuts like "Avatar: Fire and Ash," "Sonic the Hedgehog 3" and "Mufasa: The Liong King" to leg out into January. The simultaneous release of "Sonic" and "Mufasa," in particular, serves as a great example of how two films can coexist and succeed, with "Sonic" popping early but "Mufasa" attracting audiences over time. Roger Cheng Before we move on, be sure to follow me on my socials linked below for the latest updates. DMs are open for tips.    
What's surprising about Disney's insistence on holding the Dec. 18 opening date for "Doomsday" is the disadvantage it will have with premium screens... 
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