Germany has full 'Moon' fever
'Twilight Saga' presales huge overseas
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Ticket presales for the second installment in the teen vampire franchise, starring Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson, have shattered all previous records and crashed servers across the country as online ticket buyers swarmed exhib websites, according to local distrib Concorde Film.
More than 150,000 tix for the Summit pic have sold since they went on sale at midnight Saturday.
After just a few hours, demand exceeded the entire presales for Sony's upcoming Michael Jackson concert pic "This Is It."
"The idea for a purely online presale in the early hours was a huge success," said Thomas Schuelke, marketing director at UCI Kinowelt exhib chain. "Our servers experienced some incredible pressure."
He called the presales at UCI Kinowelt "sensational." The exhib, as well as other major multiplex operators, will screen "New Moon" as part of a "Twilight" double feature with the first film on the weekend before the pic's Nov. 26 start.
UCI Kinowelt sold some 25,000 tickets over the weekend, while rival exhib Kinopolis managed 15,000 in the first 48 hours.
"The fans really bit hard," joked Kinopolis topper Gregory Theile.
At Cinemaxx, which is majority-owned by Concorde parent Tele Munchen Group, more than 22,000 tickets sold over the weekend, exceeding expectations, according to Cinemaxx's Thilo Rieg.
He added that Cinemaxx's decision to announce the presales on Twitter contributed greatly to the success.
"New Moon," directed by Chris Weitz, preems in Hollywood on Nov. 16 before going wide Stateside on Nov. 20.
