Hannah Montana concert movie sets presale records

Wed Jan 30, 2008 4:19pm EST

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Walt Disney Co's Hannah Montana concert film dominated U.S. online movie ticket sales on Wednesday, a day ahead of its debut, despite opening in fewer than 1,000 theaters.

The 3D movie, which features a filmed concert by "Hannah Montana" singer-actress Miley Cyrus, opens on Thursday at midnight in 684 digital 3D theaters, a Disney spokeswoman said.

Fandango.com and MovieTickets.com, the top online ticket sellers, said "Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert" accounted for more than three-quarters of their ticket sales as of Wednesday morning.

Fandango.com said "Hannah Montana" was the site's best-selling concert film ever, selling out more than 1,000 showings and accounting for 91 percent of sales as of Wednesday morning.

MovieTickets.com reports that the film ranked eighth on its all-time presale list and was tracking at nearly 90 percent of sales on Wednesday.

The Hannah Montana character, which originated on a Disney Channel television series of the same name, has proved phenomenally popular with "tween" girls who have turned out in droves to see Miley Cyrus and her father and co-star, Billy Ray Cyrus, perform in concert. (Reporting by Gina Keating; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)