SINGAPORE: Just hours after advance ticket sales were launched for the highly-anticipated Avengers: Endgame movie in Singapore, scalpers were already capitalising by reselling the tickets at higher prices.
A check on popular online marketplace Carousell showed over a hundred listings, with several of them pricing one ticket at more than S$100 (RM300), well above its usual price of S$10 to S$14.
Cinema operator Golden Village said it sold over 15,000 tickets in the first hour, surpassing all previous advance ticket sales records for a single movie. The sale began at 9.30am in Singapore on Wednesday (April 10).
“Customers even queued for tickets across all Golden Village’s 13 multiplexes before the cinemas opened,” said a Golden Village spokesperson.
Other cinemas that offered advance sales include Cathay Cineplexes, Shaw Theatres, WE Cinemas and Filmgarde Cineplexes.
Marvel fan Yeo Kai Wen had been on Shaw Theatre’s online queue since Tuesday afternoon. His queue number was 3,204.
When the booking portal went “live” at 9.30am, he was able to buy his tickets easily.
“Since this film is one of the most important in Marvel history, I think it was important to get tickets early,” said the 30-year-old freelance photographer.
“I didn't do this for previous (Marvel) films.”
Avengers: Endgame will premiere on April 24 in Singapore.
Scalper not scalping
Yet, not all scalpers are out to make a killing. Several Carousell listings were by “trolls” who listed tickets at exorbitant prices to make a statement.
One user, zeeeeeeeer, listed each ticket for S$300 million, claiming that he booked an entire cinema. Yet, at the end of the description, he adds: “Jk. Why buy at a high price when you can just watch it few days later?”
Last week, it was reported that scalpers from the United States were auctioning tickets for the movie’s premiere on eBay for US$25,000 (RM102,812). Successful transactions included a pair of tickets that were sold for nearly US$10,000.
A Shaw Theatres spokesperson said: "We encourage our patrons not to entertain touts. When it is a popular movie, we at Shaw Theatres will do our best to increase the number of screenings and the duration that the title is screened. There will be an opportunity to watch the movie and they do not need to consider ticket-touting options."
Why Endgame is important
Avengers: Endgame marks the end of the Avengers series and fans are expecting several questions to be answered from its prequel in 2018.
“We want to know how the ‘dusted' characters from Infinity War come back and what happens to our original set of Avengers. Who's going to die? Who's going to recover?” Marvel fan Benedict Kee, 24, said.
“Endgame will most probably be shaking a lot of things up.”
This follows the box office success of prequel Avengers: Infinity Wars, which recorded around US$2.05 billion at the box office globally.
This will be the 22nd Marvel movie released since its first in 2008, and follows shortly after the Captain Marvel movie which was released last month.
Fans whom TODAY spoke to said the upcoming movie marks the “end of an era for Marvel movies”.
Several key cast members such as Robert Downey Jr, who plays Iron Man, and Chris Evans, who plays Captain America, are said to be leaving after the conclusion of this Avengers arc as well.
Spoils of war
Kee was unable to get tickets to the first-day showing of the movie, despite having tried since the booking platforms opened on Wednesday morning.
He shared that the many booking websites were unstable when he tried accessing them earlier in the day.
When TODAY spoke to him at around 3pm on Wednesday afternoon, Kee said he was number 71,996 in Shaw Theatre’s virtual queue.
He added that he will keep on trying, but he is not hopeful in securing good seats as most of the “good tickets” would have already been sold out.
“I just hope that I can find a good theatre to watch before the movie gets spoiled for me.”
For 22-year-old undergraduate Charmaine Lee, getting to watch the
movie on its opening day would prevent others from spoiling it for her.
“Since this is the last and possibly biggest movie of the year, I think it's worth the effort to book early tickets,” said Lee, who secured tickets from WE Cinemas in Clementi.
“I don't mind not watching (the movie) on the first day, but I do want to watch it as soon as possible and get closure.”-Today Online
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