Marvel and MCU fans may remember that the release of tickets for Avengers: Endgame did a number on cinema ticket sites across the US in 2019. Spider-Man: No Way Home did precisely the same thing late Sunday, with fans online saying AMC, Fandango and many other sites were down as a result of the demand.
As of early Monday, the websites of AMC, Atom, Fandango, Cinemark and Alamo Drafthouse all appeared to be up and running again. On Tuesday, Fandango said presales for the movie were the best it had seen since Endgame.
#amc #amcstockholder pic.twitter.com/dSC3JoSs2v
— Andrew B (@andrewbucardo) November 29, 2021
@AMCTheatres it's Endgame all over again
— Mike Lewis (@4thdegree9365) November 29, 2021
ATOM is down. Fandango is lagging. AMC is down. Cinemark is down. Harkins is down. #SpiderManNoWayHome pic.twitter.com/cxikVBtZfa
— charlie Jatinder (@meJat32) November 29, 2021
Fandango, AMC, and Cinemarks website crashed.. I just want my Spider-Man tickets😭
— Lucila Barrera (@Lucila_Barrera_) November 29, 2021
The release of an NFT could be partly to blame. Earlier on Sunday AMC announced that the first 86,000 "AMC Stubs A-List, Premiere, or Investor Connect members" who purchased or reserved tickets for a Dec. 16 showing of Spider-Man would receive an "eco-friendly" Spider-Man NFT for their troubles. Hard to say if this had any impact on the AMC site going down, but it most likely didn't help. AMC and Fandango didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
Get ready Spidey-Fans! #SpiderManNoWayHome tickets will be going on sale on Spider-Monday, November 29th at 12:01am EST! Swing in and grab #AMCTheatres first Eco-Friendly NFT! pic.twitter.com/ckkUK0gTIX
— AMC Theatres (@AMCTheatres) November 28, 2021
But now, after tickets for opening night are all sold out, scalpers have appeared to take advantage of the tremendous demand for Spider-Man: No Way Home tickets.
Scalpers are already attempting to sell opening night tickets for ludicrous prices.
One listing we saw had an "early viewing" ticket listed for $10,000 as a minimum bid. Others appeared to ask for even more.
It's difficult to say if anyone will ultimately end up playing that kind of money for a cinema ticket, but there are listings out there with bids --- way above retail -- already placed. Like this auction and this listing.
Spider-Man: No Way Home hits theatres on Dec. 17, with some early showings on Dec. 16.