Watchmen Outpacing 300 In Ticket Sales

MovieTickets.com just issued a press release claiming that Watchmen is outpacing 300 in advance ticket sales at 4-to-1 right now. But 300 sold more than 80 percent of its advance tickets on the Wednesday and Thursday prior to its release, so it's too early for Zack Snyder and crew to celebrate. Also interesting is that IMAX ticket sales currently account for one-third of all ticket sales for Watchmen. This is shocking because only 124 IMAX screens will be showing Watchmen. 300 grossed $70.9 million in its first weekend, and went on to make over $210 million domestically, of which, $20 million was made via 62 domestic IMAX theaters. A couple dozen Thursday midnight shows are already sold out in New York and California.

Also, Fandango held an online poll and found out that 60% of those buying Watchmen tickets online claim to have read the Watchmen graphic novel. Niow keep in mind that Fandango's sample is probably a low number and not a real indication of the mass audiences. Also, we're just looking at people who are buying tickets in advance, and not the moviegoers who will show up at the box office this weekend. But the figure could indicate that the film will have a strong drop-off in it's second week of release, as it appears that the advance interest is coming from people who have read the graphic novel (3 to 2).