In 2015, the anticipation for Star Wars: The Force Awakens was palpable, and nowhere was that more present than in the rush to pre-order tickets for opening day. With Fandango's servers experiencing slowdowns left and right, the film was a massive beast for the ticket buying service, as well as all who were partaking in the reintroduction of Star Wars. So you'd think it'd be easy for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story to scale such heights, right? Apparently it is, as the film has now racked up 2016's biggest first day pre-sale figures.
Fandango released this information today, which puts Gareth Edwards' Star Wars spinoff right behind Star Wars: The Force Awakens as the companies' first day pre-sales champ. Still, with a year that delivered such big ticket marquee names as Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Captain America: Civil War, and even Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, having Rogue One: A Star Wars Story lead the pack in pre-sales is yet another feather in the cap that Disney donned when it bought Lucasfilm back in 2012. Then again, this was the expectation for a while now, as the site's survey of fans and users named the Star Wars spin-off as the most anticipated film of 2016.
While there's still minor competition at the box office both surrounding and competing with Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, it's pretty much a given that there's no other film that could top this freshly set record. Unless Passengers or La La Land turn into a pre-order extravaganza to rival the largest tentpole on the market today, one can be pretty certain that the pre-sale record will stand -- and quite possibly lead to the top grossing slot of this year's box office. Of course, that's what happens when hundreds of thousands of tickets are already bought up within the first few minutes of the film's 12:01 AM EST release window.
Should Disney manage to land Rogue One: A Star Wars Story in its predictable top slot, it'll be the only studio in the top 5 highest grossing slots of 2016, with Captain America: Civil War, Finding Dory, Zootopia, and The Jungle Book taking the current top 4 by storm. Though if you add Moana in for good measure, that top 5 could become the top 6. With an already record breaking haul in their vaults at the moment, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is merely a really big cherry on top of the sundae that is Disney's 2016.
Tickets for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story are currently available for pre-sale through Fandango, so check your local listings. You could win a U-Wing model signed by director Gareth Edwards if you order now, but you probably didn't need that as additional incentive.
