The third and final trailer for "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" aired Oct. 19 during ESPN's "Monday Night Football." Pre-sale tickets became available immediately after and according to a report from Variety, the film has now broken the record for advanced ticket sales.
According to the report, ticket sales on Fandango have succeeded the previous record holder, "The Hunger Games," eight times over.Traffic to the ticketing website is said to have gone over seven times its normal peak during the initial 24 hours that "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" tickets became available.
"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" has also broken the record for the most IMAX ticket sales, reaching a total of $6.5 million on its first day. This greatly exceeds previous record holders "The Dark Knight Rises," "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" and "Avengers," all of which earned up to $1 million on pre-sales.
Variety also reports that MovieTickets.com stated that 95 percent of all its ticket sales within the past 24 hours (following Oct. 19) were all for "Star Wars: The Force Awakens."
Ticket sales for the film have reportedly been so hectic that both Fandango and MovieTickets' websites have been crashing due to the sudden influx of traffic. Variety also reports that due to tickets selling out, theater chains have been forced to continually add more show times in order to sell more tickets.
The trailer has also caused an influx of viewers for "Monday Night Football." Oct. 19 saw a total of 15.9 million viewers, which is above the show's average of 13.5 million viewers this season, reports CNBC.
"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" is set to kick off a new trilogy that will not only feature returning characters Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher) but will also introduce new main characters such as Rey (Daisy Ridley), Finn (John Boyega) and Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac).
"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" opens in theaters this Dec. 18.
