Pre-Sales For 'Rogue One' Crash Fandango's Site -- And Disney Benefits From It

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By: Forbes

The release of blockbuster movies has become a series of events now, from big casting news, to countdowns and teaser trailers for trailers, to the actual trailers themselves, and now pre-sale tickets. If you’re suffering blockbuster marketing fatigue and feel as if the hype cycle never ends, that’s because it doesn’t. The upcoming Rogue One: A Star Wars Story was the latest example of this, with pre-sale ticket demand being so high that it crashed Fandango’s site early Monday morning.

Tickets went on sale at 12:01 a.m. EST on the dot, and within a few short hours, the site had crashed, prompting multiple customers to take to social media to air their grievances. Even when the site was operational, potential ticket buyers faced lengthy waits in online queues only to be rewarded with time-out and error messages. The site was quick to respond to the complaints from customers, creating a “wait room” (a feature anyone who has experienced the nightmare of buying tickets for San Diego Comic-Con is intimately familiar with), and sending out the following tweet:

Fandango’s digital headache may prove to be Walt Disney Studio’s gain, however. In a conference with Goldman Sachs in September, Disney CEO Bob Iger downplayed the box office expectations for Rogue One, cautioning, “We never felt it would do the level that Force Awakens did.” Forbes’ own Scott Mendelson offered his own realistic assessment of Rogue One‘s box office potential shortly before Iger’s comments. With Iger’s remarks, combined with the lingering worries stemming from the persistent rumors of troubled reshoots, most have tempered their expectations for the first standalone film in the Star Wars universe.

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