There are few films in cinematic history as safe a bet as Avengers: Infinity War. It’s the (beginning of the) conclusion to a decade of plotlines spanning 18 movies, all of which have cleaned up at the box office and most of which have received critical acclaim. In just over a month’s time, it’s going to rocket into cinemas and presumably break a whole ton of records in the process. And you know what? It’s already started.
Deadline is reporting that Avengers: Infinity War has now broken the advance ticket sales record on Fandango by becoming the best-selling superhero movie, ever. And it did it in just six hours. Since it went on sale this morning at 6AM PST/9AM EST it’s passed Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, Justice League (though that isn’t particularly surprising) and the previous record holder, Marvel’s own Black Panther.
There was also an interesting survey that painted a decent look at what the Infinity War audience is interested in, revealing the following:
– 97% can’t wait to see how dozens of heroes work together in the same film:
– 94% are excited to see different franchise characters (Guardians, Avengers, etc.) meeting one another for the first time.
– 92% see “Infinity War” as the culmination of all of the MCU films before it.
– 87% have seen all of the MCU movies.
– 71% saw Black Panther on the big screen.
– 60% claim Black Panther made them even more excited to see Avengers: Infinity War
The survey will make intriguing reading for the marketing bods at Disney. The only thing that might give them pause is that surprise mega-hit Black Panther‘s audience may not necessarily transfer over to Infinity War.
After all, while T’Challa is prominently featured in the film’s marketing, it’s clear that the character is in a supporting role here, and so those who were eager to see an African hero on the big screen might have had their fill. A similar thing happened with Wonder Woman. Female audiences adored her solo movie, yet wisely steered clear of Justice League despite the character being heavily pushed in the marketing.
Nevertheless, Avengers: Infinity War is sure to clean house, with particularly optimistic Disney execs no doubt hoping that this might mark their second entry into the exclusive $2 billion club, after The Force Awakens earned them their first spot there.
