When a beloved movie star passes, the impact can be felt months later at the box office for any work in which they may still appear. Such is what we now expect for Patrick Stewart’s final film, so long as Marvel gets this right. Whereas the movie may have struggled before in comparison to other Avengers fare, Captain Picard appearing for the last time as Professor X may just be enough for holiday filmgoers to flood theaters for a sad “goodbye”.
Avengers: Doomsday has crossed $125 million in worldwide advance ticket sales with about seven weeks left before it opens. That presale haul alone sits within a million dollars of Supergirl’s entire theatrical run, which finished near $126 million worldwide. The comparison is blunt on purpose. One film has not opened yet. The other has already left theaters. Disney and Marvel are selling Doomsday tickets into December like a finished product, not a hope. Now, with Stewart’s passing, the advance ticket sales are projected to skyrocket.
It’s not a happy thing, by the way. We’d much prefer Patrick Stewart still be alive and well rather than having passed from an awful illness.
The team behind ‘AMERICAN DAD’ have made a statement on the tragic passing of Sir Patrick Stewart. “We at American Dad! have so much gratitude and love for Patrick Stewart. He said how happy he was to do American Dad! because he was so rarely asked to do comedy, which is insane, as his ability to get the laugh was uncanny. Thank you, Sir, for sharing your joyful spirit, inspiring voice, and willingness to be ridiculous. You turned Avery Bullock, Deputy Director of the CIA, into someone the world loved and couldn’t get enough of. We will miss you.”
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) October 30, 2026
Forbes is the outlet tracking the $125 million figure, and Dark Horizons carried the report as October closed. Pre-sales started limited to premium large format screens in July, then opened more broadly in mid-August. Domestic advances alone had passed $50 million by early September. Global Box Office had the worldwide advance past $100 million by early October. The newest jump lands with a fresh wave of cast posters and ticket pushes, and with roughly seven weeks still on the calendar before the Dec. 18 opening.
Presales That Rival a Whole DC Run
Supergirl’s lifetime take is the clean yardstick here. Roughly $72 million domestic and about $54 million international put the DC title near $126 million when the run ended. Doomsday has already booked almost that much before a single public screening. Advance money is not opening weekend money. Refunds happen, and premium formats inflate the early number. Even so, matching an entire theatrical life in deposits is the kind of demand signal exhibitors print out and tape to the break room wall.
Another beautiful to Sir Patrick Steward tribute that I ran across on Reddit If the creator of this would let me know, I am happy to flag it Collection of scenes from Star Trek: The Next Generation I’m not crying, you’re crying! Paying tribute to a great actor and a fine human being
— Dangerous Thoughts (@DangerousThinkg) October 30, 2026
The calendar helps. The passing of a famous actor, with a holiday release, as morbid as we must admit it sounds… also helps with the box office chances. Christmas corridors reward movies that can hold screens for weeks, and Marvel is stocking Doomsday with a cast that spans the old Avengers core and the newer faces. Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Paul Rudd, Robert Downey Jr., Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, and Anthony Mackie headline a roster that also pulls in Ian McKellen, Florence Pugh, and more. That depth is part of why theaters started selling so early, and part of why the advance keeps climbing after the first $100 million mark.
Now, with this being the farewell to Professor X, the end of a generational moment, it’s well within the realm of possibility that it climbs far higher than $200 million.
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The sales timeline is not a flat line. Early premium large format inventory in July tested the appetite among fans who will pay for IMAX and other large formats first. Mid-August opened the funnel. Early September’s $50 million domestic advance showed the film was not only a fan event on paper. Early October’s $100 million worldwide print from Global Box Office made the trajectory obvious. The Forbes $125 million read at month’s end is the latest checkpoint, not a final count.
Seven weeks is still a long runway for a movie this size. More trailers, more cast spots, and holiday travel plans will keep feeding the advance. Rival Christmas titles will take their own bites of premium screens. None of that erases what the current number already says: Doomsday is selling like a franchise event people have already decided to see, and the deposits are stacking at a pace that puts a finished mid-tier comic book run in the rearview before opening day even arrives.
What $125 Million Actually Buys Marvel
Advances buy confidence more than they buy a locked opening weekend. Studios still have to convert ticket holds into seats, and Christmas weather, sports, and competing family titles can shuffle the first three days. What the $125 million figure does buy is leverage with exhibitors, momentum in marketing meetings, and a public signal that the Russo-led team-up is landing with audiences who vote with a credit card months out.
Patrick Stewart as Professor X in Avengers: Doomsday – Marvel Entertainment, YouTube
For Marvel, that signal matters after a stretch of uneven theatrical returns. A December 18 date puts Doomsday in the same holiday conversation as every other prestige and franchise play of the season. The advance says the conversation already has a leader people are paying for. Whether the opening weekend matches the hype is a December story. The November story is simpler. The tickets are selling, Forbes has the $125 million mark in print, and the gap to Supergirl’s whole life is already basically closed.
Are you already holding Doomsday tickets, or waiting to see the next trailer before you commit? Sound off and let us know!
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