Sources tell Variety that four of the five theaters featuring the $50 mega ticket for “World War Z” were sold out, with an average head count for each theater coming in at around 250 people per theater (the fifth theater was 80% full). If you do the math, that amounts to about $60,000 (customers were given an option for a regular ticket, which would have been less than $50 per ticket, which is why an exact figure was not supplied).
Not exactly mega bucks for Paramount, considering the film’s current $266 million worldwide cume, but the success rate proves that some moviegoers were, indeed, willing to fork up $50 to see Brad Pitt battle zombies two days prior to release.
The $50 ticket package, offered at five Regal theaters in in Houston, San Diego, Atlanta, Philadelphia and Irvine, Calif., included a ticket to a 3D screening of the movie on June 19, two days before the film’s release; one HD digital copy of the movie when it becomes available; one pair of “World War Z” custom RealD 3D glasses; a full-size limited-edition movie poster and a small popcorn.
Last month, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas got Hollywood’s attention at a local panel when they said that they saw the future of big movies like “World War Z” costing $50 dollars for the average person to go see.
