Tickets for the earliest IMAX 70mm showings of Dune: Part Three at Brenden Theatres inside the Palms Casino Resort are nearly gone, just a day after they went on sale, and the rush comes on the heels of a mechanical failure that forced the same projector to shut down during The Odyssey this summer. Brenden Theatres put the Dune: Part Three tickets on sale Tuesday, and by the next day most of the December showtimes in the first week had fewer than 10 seats remaining.
The demand follows a rocky stretch for Nevada's only working IMAX 70mm auditorium. According to KLAS 8 News Now, the theater's IMAX 70mm projection system experienced a mechanical failure during Odyssey showings this summer, prompting Brenden Theatres to notify guests in advance of prematurely cancelled screenings, offer alternative showtimes, and process refunds for those affected. The station reports the air compressor that supports the projection system first showed problems, and roughly 24 hours later the main compressor motor itself failed.
Brenden Theatres Chief Operating Officer Robert Lyle told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that staff paused 70mm screenings after detecting a stability issue that caused the film strip to jump inside the projector, a problem that risked permanently damaging the physical print. The theater has operated since 2001 and houses two 70mm projectors, but it is the sole active IMAX 70mm film auditorium in Nevada, one of only 25 in the country and 41 worldwide, per the Review-Journal.
Parts Flown In From Canada To Fix The Breakdown
To get the projector running again, IMAX Corporation flew in a replacement part from Canada, and an IMAX specialist traveled with the part to oversee the repair, the station's report notes. Local plumbers also disconnected and reconnected water lines as part of the fix, and technicians installed a new air dryer on the projector before completing another full round of inspections ahead of restarting it. The exact number of showings lost to the breakdown was not disclosed by Brenden Theatres.
The trouble in Las Vegas was not an isolated incident. Approximately 25 specialty theaters across the country encountered technical issues and overheating problems during Odyssey's 70mm run this summer, and IMAX flew in technicians to run the Odyssey screenings at the Palms location, drawing on a pool the company maintains that numbers around 90 technicians nationwide, per the same account. Brenden Theatres offered complimentary popcorn and espresso shots to guests affected by delays and even added extra Odyssey showings to meet demand before the run ended.
Dune Tickets Vanish Fast As Insider Screenings Sell Out
Brenden Theatres offered more than a dozen opening-week 70mm showtimes for Dune: Part Three, which starts its run on Thursday, December 17, and continues through the last 2026 showtime on December 31, with three to five showings scheduled daily through January 13, 2027. Tickets for the IMAX 70mm format are priced at $51 each, though the theater's subscription program lets moviegoers get half off, the station reports.
Two insider screenings set for Monday, December 14 and Tuesday, December 15, both at 6 p.m., had only a handful of seats left shortly after going on sale, with the remaining spots limited to front-row accessibility seating. The first non-front-row seats still available for the run were for Monday, December 21 at 9:30 a.m., according to the outlet. The theater has five showings scheduled on Christmas Day and four on New Year's Eve.
Dune: Part Three, starring Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya, is the third installment in Denis Villeneuve's adaptation of Frank Herbert's novels, following a footprint of 15/70mm IMAX film cameras used during production, as previously detailed in Hoodline's report on 70mm scalping. The runaway demand for 70mm seats echoes what Hoodline has documented at other single-screen markets this summer, from Michigan to Florida to Southern California, as fans chase increasingly scarce analog film presentations before the format's next test arrives in Las Vegas this December.
