Avengers Endgame ticket sales surpass Star Wars films in 6 hours, websites crash

The new Avengers movie, which brings together multiple comic book characters – including Iron Man, Captain Marvel, Black Widow, Thor and Ant-Man – marks the conclusion of 22 Marvel films. Fan surveys last year showed it was the most anticipated film of 2019.

“‘Avengers: Endgame’ sales have exceeded all expectations and surpassed ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens,’ the previous record-holder, to become Fandango’s top-selling title in its first 24 hours of sales, and it accomplished that feat in only 6 hours,” Fandango Managing Editor Erik Davis said in a statement.

Atom said the movie has set a record for its mobile ticketing service, selling three times more tickets in the first hour than last year’s “Avengers: Infinity War.”

Avengers: Endgame starts its movie theatre rollout on April 24 in Australia and China before arriving in the United States on April 25.

On eBay, a single ticket for a first-day IMAX screening in Hollywood was being offered for $500. Starting bids for other tickets were around $35 each.

Fans took to social media to complain about websites crashing, error codes and long waits to get their tickets.

“Took me 5 hours to get #AvengersEndgame tickets,” tweeted Meghan Keatley.

“It’s been hours and they paused the site,” a fan called Bakuhoe wrote on Twitter. Five hours later Bakuhoe tweeted, “It was fun waiting with y’all, hope you all get tickets and we can suffer at the diabolical hands of Marvel together.”

Also read: Avengers Endgame director Joe Russo: Secret Wars can bring me back to MCU

Avengers: Infinity War was the biggest movie of 2018, grossing $2.04 billion at the worldwide box office.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens, with a global box office of $2.06 billion, is the third biggest movie of all time after Avatar and Titanic, respectively.