UPDATE: Although THE RISE OF SKYWALKER was able to take out AVENGERS: ENDGAME in the first hour of Atom pre-sale tickets, it didn't quite have the legs to pull that same feat off after the first day. While the conclusion to the Skywalker saga did beat out all previous STAR WARS films for day one pre-sales (including two and a half times the amount of tickets THE LAST JEDI sold), it came just short of beating AVENGERS: ENDGAME, finishing at number two all-time.
Original story follows:
I'm not sure if this whole boycott STAR WARS thing is panning out.
Last night at halftime of Monday Night Football, STAR WARS fans from across the galaxy were treated to the final trailer for director J.J. Abrams' upcoming THE RISE OF SKYWALKER. Like the previous two films in the sequel trilogy, pre-sale tickets also became available for purchase at the same time. Well for any of you wondering whether THE LAST JEDI backlash was going to affect ticket sales, you can back away from the sarlacc pit.
Yesterday, Forbes film writer Scott Mendelson reported on Twitter via Atom Tickets that the on-line movie ticket giant sold more pre-sale tickets in the first hour than any film in its history, including AVENGERS: ENDGAME. Now granted it's early in the game still as THE RISE OF SKYWALKER doesn't drop for another two months, however this is certainly an encouraging start for Disney.
It is also important to note that these pre-sale tickets are for Atom Tickets only, so this may be more of an indication of how well the company as a whole is doing rather than a pure benchmark of success for THE RISE OF SKYWALKER. In any event, it's probably safe to say the final installment in the Skywalker saga will rake in more cash than a Canto Bight casino does in a month.
STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER stars Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Adam Driver and lightspeeds its way into theaters on December 20th.