'Avengers: Doomsday' is already breaking box office records four months before release

Avengers: Doomsday is already making box office history, despite being more than four months away from its theatrical release.

The upcoming Marvel blockbuster has reportedly surpassed $35 million in domestic advance ticket sales, according to tracking data cited by ComicBook and other outlets. The figure is particularly remarkable because tickets went on sale roughly four months before the film is scheduled to arrive in cinemas on December 18.

That makes Doomsday the earliest-selling film to reach the $35 million mark in advance ticket sales, signalling the extraordinary level of interest surrounding Marvel's next Avengers movie.

The film's presale campaign started with an equally impressive first day. Doomsday generated $16.5 million in advance sales within its first 24 hours, according to Variety. At that point, tickets were available across only about 1,000 domestic premium-format locations, making the figure even more striking.

For comparison, Deadpool & Wolverine generated around half that amount during its first day of presales, despite having a much wider selection of screens and formats available when tickets went on sale.

The unusually early ticket sales are part of Marvel's strategy for building anticipation around the film. Avengers: Doomsday will not have domestic IMAX screens during its first three weeks because Dune: Part Three is also opening on December 18 and has secured IMAX exclusivity during that period. Marvel has instead pushed its premium Infinity Vision format as an alternative for fans seeking a large-format experience.

The presale numbers have also fuelled early predictions for the film's opening weekend. Current estimates cited by ComicBasics place the domestic debut somewhere between $260 million and $300 million, although those projections are still months away from the film's actual release and could change considerably.

The scale of the anticipation is unsurprising given the film's enormous ensemble. Directed by Joe and Anthony Russo, Avengers: Doomsday brings together returning Marvel stars with characters from the Fantastic Four and the original X-Men films.

Robert Downey Jr. is also returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but this time as the villain Doctor Doom, while Chris Evans is set to return as Steve Rogers. Several original X-Men stars are also reprising their roles, making the film one of the biggest crossover events in Marvel history.

The movie's December release also puts it in direct competition with Denis Villeneuve's Dune: Part Three, setting up one of the most closely watched box office clashes of the year. Both films are scheduled to open on the same day, with early ticket sales suggesting that audiences are already eager to secure seats for the holiday releases.

Whether Doomsday can ultimately match the extraordinary theatrical performance of Avengers: Endgame remains impossible to know. Endgame opened domestically to a then-record $357 million in 2019 and went on to become the second-highest-grossing film in history.

For now, however, Avengers: Doomsday has already achieved something no other movie has managed at this stage: it is generating tens of millions of dollars in ticket sales before most moviegoers have even had a chance to see the finished film.