Echoing the reports from around the world of website’s crashing under the weight of the demand of Day One pre-sale tickets for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Event Cinemas in Australia have released their numbers, showing the magnitude of the demand – which broke all previously held records for pre-sales.
According to the cinema’s press release, 1,200 tickets were sold in the first minute (8.01am), which grew to 10,000 tickets in 10 minutes with 30,000 tickets sold as of about 5pm AEDT today. They put this into perspective:
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 had sold 7,726 tickets at the end of the first day. Harry Potter and The Deathly Hollows Part 2 sold 7,258 tickets at the end of the first. The Avengers entire pre-sales tallied 26,988 tickets – Star Wars: The Force Awakens exceeded that in 4 hours.
Though we don’t have exact numbers for the other chains in Australia, at the time of print, the midnight screening at Imax’s Sydney location (which will be the only cinema in Australia to screen in 2D 1570) has completely sold out, and most sessions on the first day (there will be screenings every 3 hours for the first 24 hours) are close to doing the same.
It may go without saying at this point, but if you want to see this film on opening day – or even on opening weekend – you’ll definitely want to pre-book.
Event Cinemas tickets for Star Wars: The Force Awakens are now on sale at eventcinemas.com.au, while you can get it for Imax at imax.com.au and Hoyts over at hoyts.com.au. Most other cinemas around the country – including Dendy – are also offering pre-sales for the initial sessions of the blockbuster, including Midnight screenings.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens releases on December 17th.
———-
