Video games news, releases, esports and culture — all the biggest gaming stories in one place.
Dune 3 IMAX Screenings Seemingly Impossible to Get Due to Scalpers
Advance IMAX screenings for Dune: Part Three, due out on 18 December, have been all but snapped up by scalpers within hours of tickets going on sale on 18 August, despite the film's release still being four months away. AMC's CEO said demand overwhelmed the company's systems, with bots and bulk-buying scalpers securing hundreds of tickets before ordinary fans could get near them, leaving many unable to attend the premium screenings without paying inflated resale prices.
AMC reported website and app traffic roughly three times higher than for the recent Spider-Man ticket launch, yet even repeated retries failed fans as automated bots and in-person scalpers bought tickets in bulk, including one buyer reportedly seen purchasing 80 tickets at a single New York cinema. Some of these tickets have since appeared on eBay for over $150. Fans are now reporting scalper listings to AMC, whose terms of service ban reselling above face value and allow cancellation of tickets when seat, venue and time details are disclosed, though this offers no guarantee against further scalping.
In short
- Dune 3's IMAX pre-sale tickets were largely bought up by scalpers within hours.
- AMC says demand was triple that of Spider-Man's recent ticket launch.
- Resold tickets have appeared online for over $150; AMC can cancel breaches of policy.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Secondary markets correctly identify and price genuine scarcity: when AMC set tickets below the price at which supply matches demand, scalpers perform the essential market function of price discovery, ensuring these scarce seats reach those willing to pay most for them rather than distributed randomly to whoever accesses the system at the right moment. Scalpers bear real financial risk that demand could drop; their activity reveals what consumers genuinely value the product at. Restricting resale rights limits property ownership and prevents the price signals necessary for efficient resource allocation.
The case against
Scalping violates AMC's explicit service terms and prevents ordinary consumers from purchasing at prices the company set. The widespread bulk-buying and resale at threefold markups exploits a gap between face value and willingness to pay—a gap AMC deliberately kept narrow to ensure fair access for genuine fans. Consumer protection principles, reflected in the company's own policies, hold that tickets should reach customers at reasonable prices determined by the company rather than being hoarded and resold for profit. The practice undermines both the theatre's ability to build customer goodwill and fans' reasonable expectation of fair access to the product they sought to purchase at the advertised price.
Explained simply
Dune is a science-fiction film series based on novels by Frank Herbert, set in a distant future where rival groups compete for power and control of a valuable desert planet. Dune: Part Three is the next film in the series, and IMAX screenings use larger screens and enhanced sound to offer a premium cinema experience.
AMC is a major cinema chain in the United States. When popular film tickets go on sale, automated software and people buying in bulk can secure large numbers quickly, then offer them for resale at higher prices; this can make tickets harder for ordinary fans to buy.
The issue matters because advance sales can affect who gets access to limited premium screenings and what they pay. AMC’s ticket rules prohibit some forms of resale and allow the company to cancel certain tickets, but those rules do not ensure that every ticket will reach someone attending at the original price.