On Friday, September 11, we were among the first to report that advance booking for Avengers Endgame: Encore had commenced in India. In no time, its tickets started selling like hot cakes. While the film was expected to have a decent opening, the advance trends now make it clear that it is all set for a huge first day.
As per data accessed by Bollywood Hungama, as of 12 noon on September 15, Avengers Endgame: Encore has sold around 45,000 tickets. More than a week is still left for its release, with the superhero saga arriving in cinemas on September 25. Going by the present momentum, ticket sales are expected to breach the 1 lakh mark soon.
What’s interesting to note is that Avengers Endgame: Encore is a re-release and yet, it is behaving like a new release. The trade and industry are now excited to see whether it can break all re-release records and emerge as the biggest re-release opener ever in India.
The re-release day 1 record is held by Baahubali: The Epic, the remastered, combined edition of both Baahubali films. It collected around Rs. 9 crores in India. This is followed by Pawan Kalyan-starrer Gabbar Singh, which collected around Rs. 5 crores. Thalapathy Vijay’s Ghilli, Mahesh Babu’s Murari and Sanam Teri Kasam collected around Rs. 4 crores each. Avengers Endgame: Encore should comfortably cross the day 1 earnings during the re-release of Ghilli, Murari and Sanam Teri Kasam, as well as Gabbar Singh. All eyes are on whether it can cross Baahubali: The Epic, or even cross the Rs. 10 crore mark.
One reason for the immense demand for Avengers Endgame: Encore is the recent blockbuster success of Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which has once again boosted interest in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Moreover, Avengers Endgame: Encore will include new material along with an exclusive look at the next Marvel film, Avengers: Doomsday. Earlier this year, Disney launched Infinity Vision, a new certification for Premium Large Format (PLF) cinemas. The certification is given to auditoriums that meet certain standards related to screen size, projection quality, brightness and sound. Avengers Endgame: Encore will be one of the first films to play on Infinity Vision-certified screens, ahead of Avengers: Doomsday in December.
While the regular screens will include new footage and a unique opening, they will not feature the new post-credits scene directly linked to Avengers: Doomsday. That scene will be exclusive to IMAX and Infinity Vision-certified screens.
