In yet another great sign that the domestic box office is returning to full steam, online ticket retailer Fandango has released some insight today on the advance ticket sales for Paramount’s long-awaited sequel A Quiet Place Part II, which kicks off the summer season on May 28 with Disney’s Cruella.
Interesting comparison here in regards to presales on A Quiet Place Part II, which industry estimates have pegged between $40M-$50M over four-days. Remember, the John Krasinski directed sequel was originally set to open on March 20. The world began ratcheting down from Covid on the week of March 8. In early March of last year, A Quiet Place Part II advance tickets were already on sale. Fandango reports that A Quiet Place Part II is currently selling twice as many advance tickets on its site and app as it did at the same point in its 2020 sales cycle, before the pic was pulled from the release schedule due to theater closures. Reviews out of the gate are high with a 92% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes.
“Strong presales for A Quiet Place Part II on Fandango may present another indicator of a possible domestic box office recovery, especially as we head into Memorial Day weekend, the official kickoff to summer movie season,” says Fandango Chief Commercial Officer Kevin Shepela. “Even though some theaters are still operating at reduced capacity, it’s encouraging to see the Fandango pre-sales momentum.”
“This is the kind of experience theaters were made for,” adds Fandango Managing Editor Erik Davis. “Audiences who have long been waiting for the big-screen debut of A Quiet Place Part II will not be disappointed.”
According to exhibition sources, with Regal’s recent reopening of 174 locations today, which puts the circuit at 96% reopened, the percent of 5,8K domestic theaters in operation rises to 71%. However, Canada is still weathering Covid and has its big provinces of Alberta, Manitoba and Ontario still locked down. It’s now looking like a July reopening for them, gulp. On May 15, Maryland announced all businesses can reopen with no capacity restrictions. By June 11, there won’t be any capacity restrictions for movie theaters in Washington D.C. Memorial Day weekend is looking ripe for Massachusetts movie theaters to operate at full capacity.