EXCLUSIVE: Doctor Strange: In The Multiverse Of Madness’s advance booking begins in PVR 28 days BEFORE release, a FIRST such instance in India

It’s a very common phenomenon in the West to see the advance bookings of films commencing a month before the release. This is usually for the tent pole films when the demand is extremely high. In India, the norm is to throw open the advance sales on Wednesday or Monday before the release. For the biggies, advance might open on a Saturday or Sunday. The bookings of KGF - Chapter 2, which is scheduled to be released on April 14, was opened on April 7, a week before. However, a theatre selling tickets for a film a month before the release was unheard of in India. Until now!

Yesterday, moviegoers and trade were in for a pleasant surprise when PVR Cinemas decided to open the ticket sales of one of the biggest Hollywood films of the year, Doctor Strange: In The Multiverse Of Madness. The Benedict Cumberbatch starrer releases in India, and also worldwide, on May 6, 2021. In other words, the audiences were given a chance to book the tickets 28 days before the release! This is the first time something of this sort has been witnessed on Indian soil.

As of the morning of April 9, 2021, the tickets for Doctor Strange: In The Multiverse Of Madness are available in 6 cities and 13 cinemas of PVR. These 6 cities are Mumbai, Delhi-NCR, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Pune, and Surat. Out of these 13 PVR theatres, 5 are IMAX properties while the rest are 4DX screens. Interestingly, in Delhi, Chandigarh, and Surat, the bookings of Doctor Strange: In The Multiverse Of Madness’s Hindi version have also commenced!

What has surprised the trade and industry are that some shows are already fast filling. A trade expert told Bollywood Hungama, “Doctor Strange: In The Multiverse Of Madness is a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Hence, the craze is bound to be there. Moreover, the character of Doctor Strange was present in the recently released blockbuster, Spier-Man: No Way Home (2021). A teaser of Doctor Strange: In The Multiverse Of Madness was played in the end credits of Spider-Man and it has enhanced the curiosity for this film. It’s not surprising that audiences have already started to buy tickets. This shows how excited people are to watch the movie. It also indicates that it’s sure to take a huge opening.”

April 09, 2022 at 10:38AM AXE Movies