Have you grabbed your advance tickets for Shane Black’s Iron Man 3 yet? No? That’s possibly because an ongoing negotiation between Disney and a handful of major movie theater chains is preventing tickets from going on sale, even though the sequel is set to open in just a few weeks.
Deadline reports on the on-going story from Las Vegas CinemaCon, where the trade site says that Regal, Carmike and AMC are among the theater chains “holding out” on putting Iron Man 3 tickets on sale early because Disney “hasn’t negotiated its terms with the movie chains in several years,” and the chains know that Disney has several big-ticket tentpoles and franchises coming to theaters for the next five years and beyond. This includes Marvel movies, Pixar animated features, and the eventual Star Wars sequels – all of which are destined to generate massive ticket sales for the studio and the chains.
Deadline points out that ticket presales are “increasingly important” to the possible opening-weekend numbers of major blockbusters, and Iron Man 3 will have the spotlight on for numerous reasons. It’s the first blockbuster of the summer season. It’s the first Marvel movie since The Avengers, which crossed the $1.5 billion mark, and is the start of Marvel’s anticipated Phase Two.
And as the site notes, this negotiation between Disney and the assorted theater chains should be resolved quickly because, according to Deadline’s source, “these things always get worked out.” Obviously, both Disney and the theater chains want to sell as many ticket to Iron Man 3 as possible. It’s good for everyone involved. But if you’ve tried to grab tickets to the sequel from your neighborhood chain and haven’t been able to just yet, this probably is the reason why.
