Black Widow sees Fandango’s best advance ticket sales of the year

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

In another sign that the box office is bouncing back, Marvel's Black Widow is seeing presales that are making it the best of the year so far according to Fandango.

The news actually became a bit clear over the weekend when it was revealed that it was almost a certainty that Black Widow's presales would top those of Fast 9, which saw a pandemic-era best opening of $70 million. The good news for Black Widow doesn't end there. The film is also topping pre-pandemic Marvel films such as Spider-Man: Homecoming and Doctor Strange. Those films opened to $117 million and $85 million, respectively. Box office tracking has Black Widow opening between $80-90 million although some in the industry are wondering how high it can go since it's also seeing a debut on the Disney+ streaming service via their Premier Access program for $30. Will this cut into the box office? Industry experts will be paying close attention to this throughout the weekend.

Black Widow is also expected to launch to $140 million globally which will also be impressive. The film is launching in 46 markets, except for China and most of South East Asia. $140 million global launch may not seem like much for a Marvel film but the industry is still dealing with the pandemic and while the box office is roaring back, it's still offline in several key locations, particularly Canada. What's important is Black Widow could be setting a new pandemic starting point in the States so hitting the top of its tracking would be another great sign that theatrical releases are becoming much more viable again.

Going back to Fandango, here are some of the results from a survey that was taken by 4,000 Fandango ticket-buyers that are planning on seeing Black Widow. It shows that 97% are excited for Marvel's first film in theaters in over two years, 96% will stay till the very end of the credits to see a post-credits scene, 93% are fans of Scarlett Johansson, 81% will see Black Widow on the biggest screen possible, and 79% have been waiting a very long time for a standalone Black Widow movie. This doesn't give us 100% of the picture, but it's a good sign that Black Widow is going to perform very well.

How do YOU think Black Widow will do over the weekend at the box office?