Moviegoers who wait to buy their tickets at the door may find it hard to get into initial screenings of the new Batman movie, The Dark Knight. Leading online ticket retailer Fandango.com reports that the Warner Bros. release has been selling out showings since tickets first went on sale on Friday, June 20. The film is apparently outpacing Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Iron Man and Sex and the City to become Fandango’s fastest seller of the summer.
“We are currently seeing a surge in advance ticket sales for The Dark Knight,” says Ted Hong, VP of marketing for Fandango. “It makes sense that there’s a rush for tickets, as it’s the perfect movie to see on the big screen, as supported by our strong ticket sales for both traditional screens and the larger-format in IMAX. We believe the film is appealing to both comic book and action fans, as well as casual moviegoers.”
Director Christopher Nolan’s follow-up to his hit 2005 franchise reboot, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight stars Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman, who teams with future police commissioner James Gordon (Gary Oldman) and Gotham’s new District Attorney, Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), to take on a psychotic bank robber known as The Joker (Heath Ledger).
Dark Knight is the fifth big superhero movie of summer, following Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Hancock and Hellboy II: The Golden Army. Still, audiences show no sign of caped-crusader fatigue. Batman is by far the most recognizable comic-book figure among the lot, and Batman Begins managed to polish up the property’s tarnished silver screen presence. Overcoming painful memories of 1997’s Batman and Robin, Batman Begins managed to gross $371 million worldwide and further expanded its audience on DVD and cable television.
Fandango conducted a survey of clients in June and found that 53% of respondents plan to see the movie mainly to see Heath Ledger in one of his final roles. The late actor has been garnering Oscar buzz for his performance as The Joker, a role previously brought to the big screen by Jack Nicholson. Ledger died from a drug overdose in January of this year, shortly after finishing his work on the film.
A unit of Comcast Interactive Media, Fandango.com sells tickets to more than 15,000 screens. Also featuring reviews, commentary and trailers, the site can also be accessed via wireless mobile devices at mobile.fandango.com. Movie tickets can also be ordered over the phone by dialing 1-800-FANDANGO.
