“Captain Marvel” is already smashing box-office records, and it hasn’t even hit theaters yet.
Tickets for the film, featuring Academy Award winner Brie Larson in the title role, went on sale in January. They have outpaced presales of DC rival “Wonder Woman” at the same point in the ticket sales cycle in 2017, according to Fandango.
Fandango did not release the dollar figures of the total ticket presales.
“Captain Marvel” is now the second-highest advance ticket seller for superhero origin stories two weeks prior to its release, just behind “Black Panther.”
“Captain Marvel” is pacing just behind “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Black Panther” as the third top seller of all Marvel Cinematic Universe titles during that same time frame.
Strong presales of “Captain Marvel” tickets is a good sign for Disney, which owns Marvel Studios, as “Infinity War” and “Black Panther” collectively brought in more than $1.38 billion at the U.S. box office alone in 2018. Globally, the two films grossed more than $2.2 billion.
“‘Captain Marvel’ has a great ’90s sci-fi vibe with a tone unlike any other Marvel movie,” Erik Davis, managing editor at Fandango, said Thursday. “It’s one of the most unique superhero origin stories we’ve ever seen. With surging advance ticket sales, thanks partially to the positive critics’ reactions from this week’s first screenings, it’s clear that this ‘Cap’ has the right stuff when it comes to moviegoer appeal.”
“Wonder Woman” was always going to be the benchmark for comparison when it came to the theatrical debut of “Captain Marvel.” At the time of its release, “Wonder Woman” was the first female-led superhero film in more than a decade. It earned $103 million in its opening weekend, a feat “Captain Marvel” hopes to beat on March 8.
Analysts have predicted an opening weekend box-office haul of more than $100 million for “Captain Marvel,” with some seeing the film taking in north of $120 million.
“Captain Marvel” arrives nearly a year after the cliffhanger ending to “Avengers: Infinity War” teased that the heroine is the most powerful superhero and the only one who could take on villain Thanos.
The reviews for the film, which is just two weeks away, have begun to trickle in but have yet to be translated into a Rotten Tomatoes score. Disney’s marketing — a number of teaser trailers — and nearly a year of pent-up curiosity and anticipation seem to be enough to drive ticket sales.
The presale figure is particularly impressive considering Carol Danvers is a relatively unknown character to non-comic readers and won’t be part of an already established ensemble such as the Avengers.
Disclosure: CNBC parent Comcast owns Fandango and Universal Pictures.
