Tickets for Avengers: Endgame only went on sale this morning, but this is one of the most anticipated movies in years. You can be sure that means that a lot of people jumped online immediately to make sure they had their tickets for opening night. Atom Tickets says that the first hour of ticket sales for Endgame is the biggest single hour the site has ever seen, selling three times more tickets in that time than Avengers: Infinity War did last year.
In addition, Fandango is reporting that Avengers:Endgame has already set the record for most ticket pre-sales in a single day, a feat which it accomplished in only six hours. It took the top spot away from previous record holder, Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
While breaking the record for the first hour might not seem like a lot, it shows just how many people aren't simply planning on being there when Endgame opens, but want to make absolutely sure they are. There are going to be so many screenings of the movie at so many theaters that getting a ticket to the movie isn't going to be a problem, but if you want to be sure you're at a particular showing at a particular theater, or that you get the best seat, assuming you're looking at a reserved seat theater, then you're not going to wait around.
The new record is that much more impressive when you take into consideration a couple of factors. Tickets went on sale so early in the morning that a decent part of the west coast was probably still asleep, or at least not at their computers, meaning that the massive increase in sales came largely from only certain areas. Those on the west coast almost certainly jumped on buying tickets as soon as they realized they were available, but they likely missed the record setting first hour.
On top of that, several of the ticket purchasing websites had, and even now are still having, some significant issues due to the influx of people trying to buy tickets all at the same time. Ticket sales likely would have been even greater if everybody who wanted to buy tickets had been able to do so more easily. That's one area where the west coast likely benefited, since they weren't necessarily trying to buy when the rest of the country was.
If these pre-sale numbers are predictive of the film's overall success, and they likely are, then we could be getting ready for one of the biggest opening weekends in movie history. The entire Marvel Cinematic Universe has been building up to Avengers: Endgame and that means even if you haven't been there opening night for every entry, you'll want to be there for this one to see how it ends.
Avengers: Infinity War made over $2 billion around the world already, just how much better could Endgame actually do? Only three films have ever done better at the box office (in non-inflation adjusted dollars). Overcoming Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Titanic seems quite possible, but if the movie that's currently tracking three times better than Infinity War can do even 30% more total business, it could become the highest grossing movie ever made.
