'Avengers: Doomsday' Presales Are Reportedly Rewriting the Box Office Playbook

Marvel’s biggest event movies have always had a way of turning ticket sales into a spectator sport. Weeks before an Avengers film opens, fans and analysts start tracking presale totals like they’re scoreboard numbers. ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ is now generating that kind of attention at a scale few releases have ever matched.

The film arrives at a particularly high-stakes moment for the studio. Marvel has had a mixed run since ‘Avengers: Endgame’, and this team-up is widely viewed as a test of whether audiences still show up en masse. The early signs, at least on paper, are pointing in a very strong direction.

Reports say ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ has crossed $125 million in advance ticket sales worldwide, putting it on track to rank among the biggest opening weekends of all time. That figure comes from box office tracking rather than a studio announcement, and outlets including Variety India have noted it should be treated as an estimate. Disney has only confirmed that domestic advance sales topped $50 million, a number its chief financial officer shared in September.

The milestone builds on earlier tracking. Global Box Office reported on October 6 that the film had passed $100 million in worldwide presales, and the tracker also said it became the fastest film to reach $1 million in presales in both the United Kingdom and Brazil. Nothing here is a final box office result, and the opening weekend itself can’t be counted until December 18.

‘AVENGERS: DOOMSDAY’ has already crossed $125M in pre-sales. On track to become one of the highest opening weekends of all time. (Via: @Forbes) https://t.co/KaTDRkjusy
— The Hollywood Handle (@HollywoodHandle) October 31, 2026

The momentum began on day one. When premium-format tickets went on sale on July 20, the film reportedly earned $16.5 million in 24 hours from about 1,000 domestic theaters, roughly double what ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ made on its own first day of presales. By contrast, one analysis noted that ‘Doomsday’ passed $40 million in domestic presales with about 100 days to go, a mark that ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ didn’t reach until roughly 40 days before opening.

Interest isn’t limited to ticket sales. The first full trailer reportedly drew 503 million views in its first 24 hours, making it the second biggest trailer launch in history, behind only ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’, which pulled in 719 million views. Those numbers helped cement the film as one of the year’s most anticipated releases.

Tracking suggests a huge domestic debut. Global Box Office has projected an opening between $260 million and $300 million, a range that sits below the current record but would still rank among the biggest ever. More aggressive forecasts from individual trackers have gone far higher, with one projecting $425 million to $450 million, though those remain speculation.

The benchmark to beat is ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’, which opened to $360 million domestically and $932 million worldwide earlier this year. It edged past the $357.1 million debut of ‘Avengers: Endgame’ in 2019. A Manifold prediction market recently priced the chance of ‘Doomsday’ setting a new all-time opening record at about 43%, according to one report, though such odds are hardly definitive.

The movie opens the same day as ‘Dune: Part Three’, a showdown fans have nicknamed “Dunesday.” One tracker says ‘Doomsday’ is outselling the sci-fi finale by between 3.2-to-1 and 4-to-1, though ‘Dune’ has posted strong numbers of its own, especially in premium formats. Together, analysts expect the weekend to challenge the $402 million collective total from the weekend ‘Endgame’ opened.

Some analysts have also pointed out that the two films share a large crossover audience, which raises questions about how much they might cut into each other’s sales. The ‘Barbenheimer’ comparison has been floated, but the audiences there were more distinct. It’s a good reminder that presales and real-world turnout don’t always move in lockstep.

He used to be different. Avengers: Doomsday arrives in theaters everywhere December 18. Get your tickets now: https://t.co/J5PUbxvAkc https://t.co/OUutSMZneq
— Marvel Studios (@MarvelStudios) August 15, 2026

The film is directed by Anthony and Joe Russo and features Robert Downey Jr. as the villain Doctor Doom, with Chris Evans returning as Steve Rogers. The story brings together the MCU’s Avengers, the Fantastic Four and the X-Men in a multiverse-level crisis. That kind of crossover scale helps explain why the film has attracted attention well beyond hardcore fans.

It also helps that the marketing has leaned heavily on Doom himself, with character posters showing his metal mask lit in a deep green. That striking look has become a key part of the campaign’s identity. Combined with the trailer response, it has helped keep the film in the conversation for months.

For now, the numbers are projections and estimates, and plenty can change between now and December. Word of mouth, reviews and competing releases will all shape the final result. But if the current pace holds, ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ could be one of the most closely watched box office events in years.