Benedict Cumberbatch In ‘Hamlet’ Breaks Box Office Record, Tickets Sell Out In Hours
Benedict Cumberbatch is proving to be one of the most popular actors in England, and it was never more apparent than when tickets for his play, Hamlet, sold out in mere hours. The sell-out was the fastest in the history of English theater, which as we all know, has been around for many centuries.
Thousands of fans flocked to ticket selling sites for a chance to see Cumberbatch (Twelve Years A Slave, Sherlock, Star Trek Into Darkness) play the tragic Shakespearean character at the Barbican Theater in London. The play will run between August and October of 2015, but many were disappointed not to be able to get tickets to see their favorite actor.
Benedict Cumberbatch first gained notoriety when he was cast to play detective Sherlock Holmes in the television series Sherlock in 2010, and since then, his career has taken a meteoric path to stardom, making him one of the most sought after leading men in movies. Obviously, people have noticed.
Cumberbatch has a legion of fans, who call themselves the Cumberbitches and follow the actor’s every move. Watching their beloved idol on stage is not something many of the British actor’s fans were willing to skip, and as soon as tickets became available on Monday, they flooded the websites to purchase seats for Hamlet.
Barbican Theater members had first dibs for Benedict Cumberbatch’s Hamlet earlier this month, but tickets to the general public were made available on Monday at 10 a.m. local time, starting at 30 British pounds each. In a matter of hours, by 5:30 p.m., they were gone, establishing a new record in the process.
According to the ticket website Viagogo, Cumberbatch’s production has become most in-demand theater production of all time. Hamlet is completely overwhelming the popular adaptation of A Streetcar Named Desire currently showing at the Young Vic, outselling it by four to one.
The classic play has even seen 214 percent more ticket searches in the hours after tickets were released than Beyoncé and Jay Z’s global On the Run tour, according to Viagogo. The Barbican has allocated 100 seats for 10 pounds for each show, but the October 30 presentation is going for about $587 a pop.
There has been no comment from the Barbican regarding the speed at which Benedict Cumberbatch sold off tickets to Hamlet. The theater stated that more information will be coming next year as opening day approaches. There is no word on whether the dates could be extended or more shows could be added due to the extremely high demand for tickets.
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