Avengers: Endgame advance ticket bookings crash US websites, surpass Star Wars collections

The final spot for the highly anticipated Avengers: Endgame dropped on Tuesday just as advance tickets went on sale — and the result was numerous sites being clogged with traffic. The ticket sales broke all first-day records, surpassing the last two Star Wars films, and some even appeared on resale platforms with asking prices of up to $500 (Rs 34,000) each.

Online ticket seller Fandango stated that the fourth Avengers movie topped its first-day U.S. sales record within the first six hours of pre-sales, reports Variety . Endgame also set a new record for the best first day of sales in less than half a day at Atom Tickets, the company said. It has outsold the previous record, set by Aquaman, by four times the amount.

AMC theaters saw its website unable to process orders for several hours, tweeting on Tuesday, “We’re working on getting things back up and running.”

We want everyone to be able to grab their Avengers: Endgame tickets, but it looks like we've gotten Thanos' snap. We're working on getting things back up and running, and in the meantime, please keep trying our website and our partner sites!

— AMC Guest Services (@AMCHelps) April 2, 2019

The new Avengers movie, which brings together multiple comic book characters - including Iron Man, Captain Marvel, Black Widow, Thor and Ant-Man - marks the conclusion of 22 Marvel films.

Fan surveys last year showed it was the most anticipated film of 2019.

“Avengers: Endgame sales have exceeded all expectations and surpassed Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the previous record-holder, to become Fandango’s top-selling title in its first 24 hours of sales, and it accomplished that feat in only 6 hours,” Fandango Managing Editor Erik Davis said in a statement. Directors Joe and Anthony Russo took to their social media page to react to the news. Sharing a screenshot of the story, they wrote, “Unbelievable. You guys are awesome. #WhateverItTakes."

On eBay, a single ticket for a first-day IMAX screening in Hollywood was being offered for $500. Starting bids for other tickets were around $35 each.

Fans took to social media to complain about websites crashing, error codes and long waits to get their tickets.

Yo @Fandango this wait your turn thing is cool and all, but it would be nice if the site actually let me select seats and didn't crash when i get through. I was in line ON THE HOUR and OF COURSE it still crashes https://t.co/VP1jmcumn9

— Tay Tawan’s phanrayaa (@RRivo) April 2, 2019

Live look at Fandango, AMC Theatres and Atom Tickets customer service now that #AvengersEndgametickets have gone on sale: pic.twitter.com/90oX7DIh5k

— Ashley Carter (@AshleyLCarter1) April 2, 2019

Avengers Endgame will release on 24 April in Australia and China before arriving in the United States on 25 April. It is slated to release on 26 April in English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu in India.

(With inputs from Reuters)