For most movies, $50 million would be a solid opening weekend. Nothing fancy. Nothing record-breaking. But definitely a success. Avengers: Doomsday, however, is not most movies. It’s a film that, if it opened to $50 million, would cost people their jobs. Heads would roll. This thing has to be a massive hit, both financially and critically, and now, three months from release, it’s already taken a huge step in one of those areas.
While work continues on the December 18 release, Marvel Studios just announced that ticket presales for Doomsday have already topped $50 million. In other words, the film’s box office gross is already greater than a huge number of films that get released each year, and it’s not out for another three months. No one has seen it, and it’s already at $50 million. Plus, of that $50 million, over 70% of it is from screens that are labeled “Infinity Vision,” meaning a lot of premium theatrical experiences.
So where does $50 million three months out put Doomsday? In a very impressive, but maybe not quite all-time-best range. For example, in 2019, Avengers: Endgame was believed to set the all-time presale record of about $120 million. Star Wars: The Force Awakens did about $100 million, and Spider-Man: No Way Home did about $75 million. So Doomsday is on the way, but not quite there.
There are some major differences, though. In the case of Endgame, those tickets went on sale just about three weeks before release, not three months. Endgame was also coming off the success of Avengers: Infinity War, and marketing was already in full swing when tickets went on sale. Avengers: Doomsday is not really coming off anything and is selling tickets for much, much longer. Did Endgame hit $50 million in a day? A week? How many more tickets would it have sold if it went on sale months earlier? We don’t know. So it’s hard to set any real one-to-one comparisons. However, you have to assume Doomsday’s ticket sales started incredibly busy, cooled off a bit, and will heat up again closer to release. $50 million is just the start. Endgame’s record of $120 million seems like a long shot, but anything is possible.
Whatever the case, though, Avengers: Doomsday is getting a huge head start on its opening weekend number. And it’s going to need it. Don’t forget, it’s opening opposite Dune: Part Three, which is selling a lot of tickets as well.
How high do you think the box office of Avengers: Doomsday will go? Let us know below.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
Read the full article here
