'New Moon' ticket pre-sales breaking records
Volturi Captain
No surprise here: Twilight fans are salivating in preparation to sink their teeth into the franchise's much-anticipated sequel, New Moon. The film, which will be in theaters Friday, is already attracting record audiences for ticket sellers and venues across the country.
According to Fandango, who notes that their numbers are increasing every second, several thousand New Moon showtimes have sold out, making it the most the company has ever sold prior to a film's release date. (And, yes, that means the film has even topped The Dark Knight, and movies from both the Harry Potter and Star Wars franchises.) AMC and MovieTickets.com report the same information. Both the movie chain and the online ticket buying service have said the film has broken records set by Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings. (New Moon even nabbed the No. 1 spot on MovieTickets.com's list of top 10 advance ticket sellers of all time, breaking a nearly five-year-old record set by Star Wars: Episode III—Revenge of the Sith. The service is also reporting over 2,150 sellouts for the film, with over 200 in Los Angeles and New York.)
"You could say that Edward and Jacob slayed The Dark Knight and put a spell on Harry Potter to take the advance ticketing crown at Fandango," says Fandango rep Harry Medved, who also says that 42 percent of 2,000 ticket buyers surveyed are younger than 24 years old. "Theater owners are continually adding new showtimes and posting them to keep up with fan demand."
So why have the numbers grown so much since the first film? Obviously, the tabloid fodder surrounding its three stars — Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, and Taylor Lautner—surely hasn't hurt matters. But the first film also drove 55 percent of Fandango's surveyed ticket buyers to read Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series. Add to that the fact that most of the film's audience is young and female — MovieTickets.com reports that 87 percent of their ticket buyers are female — and it's no surprise that the sequel is beating its predecessor.
Hoping to profit even further over the fervor, AMC is planning on offering New Moon collector's cups, as well as T-shirts, tote bags, and posters at their cinemas. The fans, however, might not need any additional garb. According to Fandango, ten percent of fans plan on dressing up as characters from the film. And if you're one of the lucky few who have scored Thursday night tickets — the majority of tickets sold on Fandango — be sure to cover your ears: The company says their stats show 51 percent of fans say they're prepared to scream as soon as lights go down in the theater. Does that mean we'll be deaf by the time we get to Eclipse?
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