Bayeux tapestry beats Spider-Man in ticket sales in early hours
Monzo customers spent more on the Bayeux tapestry exhibition at the British Museum in an hour than on the Odyssey and the new Spider-Man in the morning. According to Reuters, the tapestry caused a stir in Britain
Payments by customers of British bank Monzo for tickets to the Bayeux tapestry exhibition at the British Museum exceeded their spending on Odyssey and Spider-Man: A New Day on the days of the premieres of these films. This is reported by The Guardian, referring to the data of the bank on the spending of its 16 million customers.
The exhibition opened to the public on September 10 and will run until July 11, 2027. The exhibit was given to London during the reconstruction of the museum in the French Bayeux. His temporary move from France caused a stir among the British, as the canvas with the events preceding the conquest of England for the first time in almost a thousand years is shown on British soil. After the transportation, restorers found small gaps in two places, but no serious damage was detected. The tapestry was transported rolled up, in a climate chamber with special shock absorbers.
Tapestry from Bayeux - created in the XI century linen canvas length of almost 70 m with embroidery with wool threads. It depicts the events preceding the Norman Duke William's conquest of England and the Battle of Hastings in 1066. The story unfolds in 58 scenes with Latin inscriptions. The canvas serves as a source of information about weapons, clothing, navigation and everyday life of the early Middle Ages. In 2007, it was included in the UNESCO Register of Documentary Heritage “Memory of the World”.
For the first hour of ticket sales on October 21, Monzo cardholders transferred £14,100 to the museum - 48 times more than usual on a weekday morning. Monzo customers have spent £30,500 in two hours selling tickets. For comparison, in the morning of the start of rental “Odyssey” customers of the bank spent £7 thousand, and the new “Spider-Man” – £6.3 thousand. Buyers under 35 accounted for 55% of payments to the museum in the first hour.
At the same time, the ticket for the exhibition is more expensive than the average ticket to the cinema - a standard adult costs £33 in hours of high demand and £27 in the rest of the time, the newspaper notes.
Tickets for sale on October 21 ran out in three hours. According to The Guardian, the hype is reminiscent of the demand for tickets to the Glastonbury festival and concerts of the reunited band Oasis.
The influx of visitors has already forced the museum to change the organization of the exhibition. As reported by ITV News, citing its representative, visitors were forbidden to take pictures of the exhibit, as stops for pictures slowed the queue. The museum also announced an increase in opening hours and additional seating spaces.
Some ticket holders were unable to get to the exhibition before closing due to delays. They were offered a refund and the opportunity to reschedule the visit for free. At the same time, the first day of sales in July was a record for the museum: in 24 hours, tickets brought more than £2.4 million.
In September, Spider-Man: A New Day became the highest grossing film in the history of the United States and Canada. According to The Numbers, the film grossed $936.773 million in 47 days, beating Star Wars: The Force Awakens with $936.662 million. The film starring Tom Holland was released on July 31, and for the first week earned more than $ 1.1 billion in the world and became the highest grossing release of 2026 at that time.
