The new trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens aired on Monday preceded an advanced ticket sale for J.J. Abram's seventh installment of the movie.
It seems that the epic space opera sequel was more expected than we imagined, breaking sales records and crashing ticket sites, two months before the great movie's theatrical premiere.
The advance ticket sales for Star Wars: The Force Awakens has set new records in the film industry as a huge number of fans rushed to purchasing platforms to save a seat for the most expected film of the year.
Sites like Fandango, the Alamo Drafthouse, and AMC Theaters faced difficulties due to the high traffic and many fans barely got the chance to buy a ticket after more attempts.
On the first day of pre-sales US retailer Fandango reported that their sales were eight times higher than they were at the previous record holder, The Hunger Games.
IMAX reported that they grossed $6.5 million dollars in 24h for the The Force Awakens, their previous record reaching $1 million. AMC theatres was hit by the force as well, selling in less than 12 hours 1,000 shows and the advanced ticket sales were ten times higher than their previous record.
"Movie theaters are continually adding new show times on Fandango to meet the phenomenal demand. The enthusiasm for this year's most anticipated movie is out of this world and we expect it to continue all the way to its debut on December 18,” those from Fandango said.
More records set and the highest-grossing film at the moment might be surpassed by The Force Awakens
The Force Awakens is also responsible for 95% of the sales on Movietickets.com, the site experiencing loading problems too due to traffic that was 3 times higher than their largest peak since the site was launched, +15 years ago.
The big avalanche of sales hit UK too, where The Force Awakens beats previous records held by movies like Skyfall, Spectre, The Hunger Games and 50 Shades of Grey. Disney reported 200,000 plus tickets purchased in UK.
These records being marked, The Force Awakens might become the new highest-grossing movie of all time in the detriment of Avatar.CEO of IMAX Entertainment, Greg Foster, stated for the Hollywood Reporter:
"The only words to describe the first day of IMAX worldwide advance ticket sales for Star Wars: The Force Awakens are "˜record-shattering. We're seeing sell-outs across the board - from Hollywood to London, to Sparks, Nevada and everywhere in between."
Disney and Lucasfilm have managed to make a success of The Force Awakens even before being released, and everyone expects that the grandeur of the movie will reflect on the big screen too, fans foreseeing a "return to form" for the franchise.
Bringing back old members of the cast like Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher alongside new stars Adam Driver, John Boyega and Daisy Ridley, Abram's Star Wars sequel might be writing another page in the history of film industry.
