‘Star Wars’ Rising: ‘Skywalker’ Pre-Sales Nearly Double ‘Avengers: Engame’

Geoff Boucher

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Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker won’t reach theaters until December 20th but the mega-release from Disney’s Lucasfilm Ltd. was already breaking records on Monday night.

The premiere of the film’s final trailer during the Monday Night Football halftime show provided the high-profile kickoff for advance tickets sales for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and fans responded in record numbers, according to Atom Tickets.

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Atom Tickets reported a new first-hour sales record with a Jedi ticket total that blew away the the record set earlier this year by another Disney behemoth, Avengers: Endgame. That superhero epic eventually became the highest-grossing film in Hollywood history (total unadjusted for inflation) but Skywalker just beat its brisk sales by a robust 45%.

The film is billed as the finale installment of the Skywalker family’s screen saga, which began in 1977 when fans all over the world were introduced to a callow farm boy named Luke who dreamed of glory beyond his desolate planet.

Atom’s new tally of best first-hour sales performances is dominated by space knights and superheroes: 1) Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker 2) Avengers: Endgame 3) Avengers: Infinity War 4) Star Wars: The Last Jedi 5) Star Wars: Rogue One.

According to Atom Tickets’ fall movie survey, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is the most anticipated movie this fall. Already this year, Disney became the first studio in Hollywood history to release five films with box-office grosses north of $1 billion.

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