Avengers: Doomsday Rakes In $16.5M Opening-Day Presales Despite Limited Screens
Advance sales for Avengers: Doomsday are off to a storming start, with exhibitors flagging brisk demand ahead of Thursday previews.
Tickets went on sale only in premium formats and only in about 1,000 U.S. theaters , timed to the first full trailer — not a wide rollout — and still the early shows around the December 18 opening are already close to tapped out. According to Variety, theaters are now adding extra Christmas Day screenings to soak up demand.
$16.5 million in day-one presales — with just premium-format tickets on sale — per Variety.
Variety also reports the day-one haul roughly doubled what Deadpool & Wolverine posted on its first day of presales earlier this year; that movie ultimately cleared about $1.3 billion worldwide. If you’re wondering whether a soft launch can still move the needle, Marvel just answered that.
No IMAX? No problem
Avengers: Doomsday won’t play on IMAX screens at launch because Dune: Part III has that format locked up exclusively for the first three weeks — both films share the same release date. Marvel’s workaround is something it ’s calling Infinity Vision, a certification for auditoriums that meet certain technical standards. Despite the IMAX lockout, the presales suggest audiences aren’t waiting for a bigger screen.
Trailer stirs up Cap talk
The new trailer has fans buzzing about a possible double dose of Steve Rogers. In one quick beat, Thor hurls Mjolnir at a bearded figure in a black jacket that mirrors Cap’s Endgame farewell look — and the man casually catches it. Marvel and Disney aren’t commenting, but the studio had already seeded speculation with four teaser snippets attached to Avatar: Fire and Ash screenings, including one that hinted Chris Evans’ Captain America might even be back with a child in tow.
The returning lineup is stacked, with veterans and newer heroes sharing the bill:
- Chris Hemsworth — Thor
- Anthony Mackie — Sam Wilson/Captain America
- Sebastian Stan — Bucky Barnes
- Paul Rudd — Scott Lang/Ant-Man
- Letitia Wright — Shuri
- Simu Liu — Shang-Chi
Avengers: Doomsday opens in theaters on December 18.