Transformers 2 Outselling Star Trek (Updated)

In an article from Superherohype, pre-sales of tickets for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is outselling JJ Abrams' Star Trek and the first Transformers movie.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen doesn't open till next week (June 24th), but as of this morning, the film already represents 45% of ticket sales on Fandango, the nation's leading moviegoer destination.

"For nearly two years - since the last Transformers opened - this new movie has been one of the most highly-anticipated films among fans on our site," says Rick Butler, Chief Operating Officer of Fandango. "Tickets for the new Transformers are already selling fast, so moviegoers should plan on buying their tickets in advance, as many showtimes are certain to sell out next week."

Fandango has surveyed nearly 2,000 moviegoers planning to see Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Among the findings:

* 88% of respondents said they are fans of director Michael Bay; 66% of them picked Transformers as their favorite Bay film.
* 77% of respondents say they were fans of Transformers when they were kids; 68% of those fans watched the cartoon series, while 61% played with the toys.
* 45% picked Optimus Prime as their favorite Transformer; 21% picked Bumblebee; 4% picked Megatron.
* 62% of respondents are 18-34 years old; 63% are male.

In a separate survey on Fandango, 36% of moviegoers picked Transformers star Megan Fox as the sexiest female star of the summer.

Considering the expectation that Revenge could make as much as $175 million in the states alone I can't say I am surprised. Currently Star Trek is the number one movie in the states with a $233M and worldwide total sits at 4th with $351.9M total after 40 days of release. Angels & Demons is the current worldwide box office king with a $440.7M total after 33 days of release. My prediction is Transformers 2 to blow by Star Trek's worldwide total by the 7th day of release and surpass Angels by the 13th day.

Side note, feel free to the Fandango links on this blog to order your tickets if ordering online.

Update: Movietickets.com also released a brief bit of info on how Transformers 2 ticket sales are doing on their website.

As of today, U.S. ticket sales at MovieTickets.com for “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” are outpacing ticket sales for “Transformers” by almost 3-to-1 at the same point in the sales cycle – eight days prior to each film’s release.

Interestingly, IMAX ticket sales at MovieTickets.com for “Transformers 2” account for close to half of all ticket sales for the film.