‘Avengers: Doomsday’: Marvel Studios signals comeback

“Avengers: Doomsday” has generated $16.5 million in advance ticket sales after the first day of availability.

Disney’s Marvel Studios released tickets for sale on the first trailer launch. This teased a tussle between the Avengers and X-Men facing off against the villainous Doctor Doom. These tickets were only available for premium formats in just 1000 domestic theaters. Avengers: Doomsday is set to open on December 18, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe adventure will land on more than 4,000 North American screens.

Showtimes for premium formats on Thursday, December 17 and Friday, December 18 are already largely sold out, according to studio insiders, and exhibitors are reportedly adding more screenings for Christmas Day and beyond.

First-day sales are also notable because they don’t include IMAX, the most ubiquitous of the premium large formats. “Avengers: Doomsday” won’t have access to IMAX because “Dune: Part III,” which debuts on the same day, has the entire IMAX footprint exclusively for three weeks.

Since premium large formats have been all the rage, especially with action-heavy adventures, Marvel introduced something called “Infinity Vision.” It’s not a new technology but rather a “certification” that guarantees movie theaters will “meet rigorous technical standards,” per Disney.

“Doomsday” is predicted to have one of the biggest debuts of the year. Although advance ticket sales don’t necessarily translate to opening weekend results, “Doomsday” pre-sales are twice as high as the first-day figures for Marvel’s prior superhero mashup, 2024’s “Deadpool & Wolverine”, and that included all formats and screens on sale. “Deadpool & Wolverine” launched to $211 million and ended its run with $1.3 billion to become the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time.

It’s unclear how big a debut “Doomsday” will enjoy around the holidays. The last time the entire MCU assembled was 2019’s “Avengers: Endgame,” which resulted in the largest opening weekend of all time with $357 million domestically and $1.2 billion globally. It’s currently the second-highest-grossing movie of all time with $2.7 billion. Since then, Marvel’s track record has been rocky, to say the least. But the comic book empire’s biggest post-pandemic hits were major “Avengers”-esque reunions such as 2021’s “Spider-Man: No Way Home” ($1.9 billion) and “Deadpool & Wolverine.” Marvel is about to deliver another behemoth, “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” on July 31.

“Dunesday,” the portmanteau for the same-day debuts of “Avengers: Doomsday” and “Dune 3,” should result in one of the biggest collective weekends in box office history. The three biggest weekends to date were timed to the releases of 2019’s “Avengers: Endgame” ($402 million collectively), 2018’s “Avengers: Infinity War” ($314 million collectively) and 2015’s “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” ($313 million collectively).

Directed by Joe and Anthony Russo, “Avengers: Doomsday” is the 39th installment in the sprawling Marvel Cinematic Universe. The movie features a kitchen sink of Avengers and X-Men, including but not limited to Robert Downey Jr. (returning not as Iron Man but as Doctor Doom), Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Paul Rudd, Anthony Mackie, Florence Pugh, Patrick Stewart, Pedro Pascal, Ian McKellen, Letitia Wright and Channing Tatum. Plot details haven’t been confirmed, but the logline teases that “beloved heroes from three distinct universes will be set on a deadly collision course and face an existential threat unlike anything they’ve ever encountered.” A sequel, “Avengers: Secret Wars,” is set for 2027.

‘Avengers: Doomsday’: Marvel Studios signals comeback with early ticket sales