Shah Rukh Khan’s King 'sandwiched' between Avengers Doomsday and Dune 3: Can December handle them all?

The Avengers can take on a lot of things in different countries, but when it comes to facing SRK's star power in India...well, good luck to them.

Shah Rukh Khan's King has a confirmed December 24, 2026 release date. And while the film isn't facing Avengers: Doomsday or Dune: Part Three in a direct same-day clash, the film is entering one of the busiest holiday periods on the 2026 release calendar. Shah Rukh Khan isn't too worried, as he made it clear in an Ask SRK session. After a fan mentioned King would be sandwiched, in his true SRK-style wit he answered that they're the 'centre's tasty tikki'.

The timing was locked in January, when Shah Rukh Khan and director Siddharth Anand announced the Christmas Eve release, just ahead of the third anniversary of Pathaan.

By September, the calendar had become considerably more crowded.

King arrives one week after Dune and Avengers

Avengers: Doomsday and Dune: Part Three are both scheduled to open on December 18, six days before King. So technically, there is no same-day clash.

But that doesn't mean the films exist in completely separate box-office lanes.

Dune: Part Three and Avengers: Doomsday will be competing for audiences and premium screens from December 18, while King arrives just as that first wave of Hollywood blockbusters enters its second week. Then, on December 25, Jumanji: The Open World is scheduled to open, adding another major franchise title to the Christmas period.

In other words, December 2026 isn't short on options for moviegoers.

The premium-screen question

One of the more interesting parts of the December schedule is the pressure on IMAX and other premium formats.

Dune: Part Three was shot extensively with IMAX cameras and is scheduled for IMAX 70mm screenings, giving it a particularly strong claim on the format when it opens on December 18.

Variety's reporting suggests Dune is likely to have an initial advantage on IMAX screens, while Avengers: Doomsday could pick up some of those screens later. The publication also notes that King could still secure IMAX screenings, but that the eventual allocation will depend on negotiations between studios, exhibitors and IMAX.

So the issue isn't simply that King is being squeezed out. It's that premium-screen space could become a particularly important piece of the December box-office puzzle.

Why King's release matters for SRK

King also marks Shah Rukh Khan's return after two years without a theatrical release.

His last three films, Pathaan, Jawan and Dunki — arrived in 2023, making it a particularly strong comeback year for the actor. He subsequently had no theatrical release in either 2024 or 2025.

That makes King a significant theatrical return, although the film's eventual box-office performance remains impossible to know before release.

There had been speculation that King could be pushed to 2027 as the December calendar grew more crowded. That speculation was put to rest in September, when SRK was asked directly about a delay and replied that there was no change to the December 24 release.

Who's in King?

Shah Rukh Khan leads the film, with Siddharth Anand directing. Suhana Khan, Deepika Padukone and Abhishek Bachchan are among the prominent names associated with the cast, with Abhishek reported to be playing the antagonist. Jaideep Ahlawat, Abhay Verma and Arshad Warsi have also been reported in key roles.

Deepika's presence also marks another reunion with Shah Rukh Khan. King will be their sixth film together, following Om Shanti Om, Chennai Express, Happy New Year, Pathaan and Jawan.

Produced by Red Chillies Entertainment, King is positioned as a large-scale action film and marks another collaboration between Shah Rukh Khan and Siddharth Anand after Pathaan.

So, is King actually clashing with Avengers and Dune?

Not exactly.

The three films aren't opening on the same day. Dune: Part Three and Avengers: Doomsday arrive on December 18, King follows on December 24, and Jumanji: The Open World is scheduled for December 25.

But the films will still be competing within the same lucrative Christmas and New Year period, where screen allocation, premium formats, show timings and audience attention can all become important.

For King, the December 24 date is now official. The more interesting question is not whether Shah Rukh Khan is literally opening against Avengers and Dune, but how much room the crowded holiday calendar leaves for every major film to find its audience.

And SRK fans aren't too worried about the clash.

The truth is, before King even entered the conversation, Shah Rukh Khan had already pulled off something no other Hindi film actor has managed: delivering two of the highest-grossing Bollywood films ever released, in the same calendar year. Pathaan kicked off 2023, Jawan closed it out mid-year with an even bigger bang, and together they rewrote what a "blockbuster" was supposed to look like in Hindi cinema.

Pathaan

Pathaan marked Shah Rukh Khan's return to a lead role after a four-year gap, and the box office noticed immediately. The film opened to ₹57 crore on day one, crossed Rs 100 crore in just two days, the fastest ever for director Siddharth Anand, and kept climbing from there.

By its first week, Pathaan had grossed Rs 634 crore worldwide, setting the record for the highest-ever week-one collection in Hindi cinema. It crossed Rs 900 crore by its fourth weekend, and eventually sailed past the Rs 1,000 crore mark, with Yash Raj Films confirming a worldwide gross of ₹1,028 crore — made up of roughly Rs 641.50 crore from India and Rs 386.50 crore from overseas markets. This made Pathaan the highest-grossing Bollywood film ever released at the worldwide box office at the time, and the first Hindi film to overtake Baahubali 2's domestic Hindi-language lifetime numbers.

Jawan

If Pathaan reintroduced SRK to the big screen, Jawan proved it wasn't a one-off. Released on September 7, the Atlee-directed actioner opened even bigger, pulling in the biggest single-day collection in Hindi cinema history and crossing Rs 500 crore worldwide in just four days — the fastest any Hindi film had ever hit that mark.

Jawan didn't slow down from there. It crossed Rs 750 crore in ten days, blew past Rs 900 crore less than two weeks in, and eventually topped Rs 1,000 crore in worldwide gross — reported at Rs 1,004.92 crore by Red Chillies Entertainment. Domestically, Jawan's Hindi-language collections hit Rs 525.50 crore, enough to overtake both Gadar 2 and Pathaan and become the highest-grossing Hindi film in India, putting two SRK films in the all-time top three in the same year.

So, with that record in India, SRK is quite capable of taking on Doomsday and Dune 3.