‘Avengers: Endgame’

LOS ANGELES – Advance ticket sales for Marvel superhero movie “Avengers: Endgame” on Tuesday surpassed the last two “Star Wars” films, and some appeared on resale platforms with asking prices of up to $500 each.

Fandango and Atom – two of the top ticketing websites in the United States – said first-day advance sales for Disney’s “Avengers: Endgame” surpassed the 2015 movie “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” and 2017’s “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” – also from Disney. They did not give sales figures.

The new Avengers movie, which brings together multiple comic book characters – including Iron Man, Captain Marvel, Black Widow, Thor, and Ant-Man – marks the conclusion of 22 Marvel films. Fan surveys last year showed it was the most anticipated film of 2019.

“‘Avengers: Endgame’ sales have exceeded all expectations and surpassed ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens,’ the previous record-holder, to become Fandango’s top-selling title in its first 24 hours of sales, and it accomplished that feat in only 6 hours,” Fandango Managing Editor Erik Davis said in a statement.

Atom said the movie has set a record for its mobile ticketing service, selling three times more tickets in the first hour than last year’s “Avengers: Infinity War.”

“Avengers: Endgame” starts its movie theater rollout on April 24 in Australia and China before arriving in the United States on April 25.

On eBay, a single ticket for a firstday IMAX screening in Hollywood was being offered for $500. Starting bids for other tickets were around $35 each.

Fans took to social media to complain about websites crashing, error codes and long waits to get