Only 41 Screens Will Show Dune: Part Three's Full IMAX Version

Only 41 screens will be able to show the full IMAX version of Dune: Part Three, according to the film's editor, Joe Walker, speaking to The Hollywood Reporter.

Walker won the Academy Award for Best Achievement in Film Editing for Dune in 2022. He has also been nominated for an Oscar for 12 Years a Slave and Arrival. His interview was tied to the Camerimage festival in Toruń, Poland, where he received its Editor Award.

Walker said he has signed off on the film in a range of formats. Those include 2.20 70mm, a wide film print, and 1.90 digital IMAX. They also include 1.43 full-frame IMAX 70mm, Dolby Vision for picture, and both IMAX and Atmos sound mixes. Aspect ratios are simply the shape of the frame, so each number describes a different picture shape. Atmos is a sound system that places noises around the cinema, not only in front.

The film was designed for an IMAX experience, Walker said, but it was made to work in other formats too. That is why the list is so long. Most cinemas will show a version that fits their own equipment, and only a small number of venues can run the full IMAX presentation.

Walker said he finished work on Dune: Part Three about two to three weeks before the Camerimage interview. That gives a sense of how late the editing still ran for a film of this scale.

His career began far from big-screen spectacle. He started as a sound editor at the BBC and trained as a classical composer. Those years shaped how he thinks about rhythm and sound, which matters for a director who works with huge, quiet scenes.

Walker has worked closely with two directors. With Steve McQueen he edited Hunger, Shame and 12 Years a Slave. With Denis Villeneuve he edited Sicario, Arrival, Blade Runner 2049 and the Dune films.

What comes next is another Villeneuve project. Walker said his next job is editing the director's upcoming James Bond film.

For audiences, the practical point is simple. If you want the version the filmmakers built around IMAX, you will need to find one of the 41 screens that can show it. Everywhere else, the film will be shown in one of the other formats the team prepared.