Dune: Part Three is one of the most talked-about movies coming out this year. Not only because of the stacked cast, the amazing cinematography, and the fact that this will be the conclusion of an epic trilogy, but also because it is part of one of the craziest events happening in cinema. “Dunesday,” or essentially, the combination of the movie titles Dune and Avengers: Doomsday is happening because both movies will be released in theaters on the same day — Dec. 18, 2026. Now, because of the buzz, thousands of people were wondering the same question: “When will we be able to get tickets?” That was answered when the official Dune page posted that tickets would be available on Aug. 18 at noon. Everyone was so excited to finally get movie tickets, including me. That was, until the day arrived.
When the day finally arrived, everyone was anticipating the ticket drop on the AMC Theatres app. People were saying they were already on the app hours before tickets even dropped, or as little as 30 minutes beforehand. But when the clock struck 12 p.m., chaos had begun. The AMC Theatres app started glitching and kept showing an error screen for those who tried to open it. Even if you were trying to open the app for different reasons, an error screen would still pop up. This would prompt you to leave the app and then come back, with many thinking the problem was their internet. The problem was that when trying to get back into the app, it would glitch out again. Taking you back to your home screen, acting as though you never opened the app. Thousands of people were reporting this issue, but it didn’t do much to save the app. It got to a point where I didn’t even open the app for about 45 minutes.
Just when you think it couldn’t get any worse, it did. Let’s say you were able to stay on the app without the error screen. You’ve passed the first level. Now you move on to the second level. At this level, the problem was getting the actual ticket. As known, when you’re purchasing a movie ticket, there are different showtimes. For Dune: Part Three, there were different showtimes for different days. Some showtimes were reasonable, like 4 p.m. or 8 p.m. However, some times were either 2 a.m. or 10 a.m. Personally, I thought it was insane, but for a movie like Dune, I wouldn’t be surprised if there were a few seats taken around those times. Besides that, getting the ticket itself was a nightmare. Sometimes, you would click on a seat, thinking you’d won, then minutes later there would be a notification that said, “Seat already taken,” even though it showed that the seat was available. So why the switch-up? Some people were even saying that showtimes for certain theaters were automatically removed for no reason. If this movie is being released worldwide, why are some theaters not showing any screenings?
You’re probably thinking, “Jaden, it can’t get any worse. And why is it a big deal? It’s just a movie ticket — you can probably get it later.” Well, for one, yes — it does, in fact, get much worse. And two, if a studio is going to be marketing one of the most buzzed-about movies releasing this year, the least they could do for audiences is make it easier for those purchasing online. You also might be thinking, “Then why didn’t you just go to a theater and do it in person?” Well, I would have, if there wasn’t almost an hour-long line outside of the theater with other people who also had the same idea of not getting their ticket online, but in person. Then the AMC Theatres app got to a point where the home screen turned into a queue just to use it. Which has you wondering: “A queue? For movie tickets? Usually that’s something for the presale of a famous artist’s concert.” Bingo! That’s the issue that’s been happening with movie tickets recently: the purchasing process has gotten out of control. You might also be wondering, “Well, what about purchasing from other apps like Fandango? You’ve just mentioned AMC.” To answer your question, this issue wasn’t just happening to AMC, it was happening to other apps as well.
Overall, the fiasco of the Dune: Part Three ticket sales was not the only issue. It happened when trying to get tickets for The Odyssey, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, and even Michael. I believe that nowadays, the feeling of getting a movie ticket should not be the same as getting a concert ticket, especially that anxious feeling in your stomach as you wait just to get one singular ticket. Hopefully, this opens many companies’ eyes as to what is happening, and hopefully they’ll be able to fix the situation the next time a buzzed-about movie releases.