TICKETS for the 18th Shanghai International Film Festival went on sale for the first time yesterday and business was fast and furious as movie fans battled for the best seats.

Huge queues formed from early morning outside many of the 45 participating theaters, with some people even queueing overnight to make sure they didn’t miss out.

By late afternoon, sales had topped 11 million yuan (US$1.8 million), an increase of 70 percent from last year, the festival’s organizing committee said.

According to Gu Yan, general manager of the Shanghai Film Art Center, some of the best-selling tickets were for Japanese film “Midnight Diner,” American thriller “Gone Girl,” the “Star Wars” series, and the classics “Gone With the Wind” and “Once Upon a Time in America.”

“We took 1.4 million yuan on the day, which is up 40 percent from last year,” Gu said.

“Tickets for prime-time screenings have been particularly hot, and lots of young people are getting involved,” he said.

College student Lily Chen said she bought tickets for “Gone With the Wind” and “The Sound of Music.”

“It is a rare chance for us to watch classic movies on the big screen,” she said.

“I’ll watch them with my parents, who are also huge fans.”

Alex Zheng, a 30-something IT worker said he bought tickets for the Belgian drama “Two Days, One Night,” starring French actress Marion Cotillard.

“The film’s story appeals to me,” Zheng said.

“It is a real-life movie about humanity and emotion in tough times. We don’t have a lot of opportunities to see such movies at the cinema, due to all the sci-fi and superhero films,” he said.

Dai Guoping, manager of Yonghua Cinema, said film buffs began queuing outside his venue early yesterday morning.

Polish drama “Ida,” the John Nash biopic “A Beautiful Mind” and the German documentary “Katherine Hepburn — The Great Kate” were among the most popular, he said.

This year’s festival starts on Saturday and runs through June 21. It will feature more than 1,200 screenings ­—300 more than last year ­— of about 300 classic and contemporary movies from home and abroad.

There will also be a Jackie Chan week, plus tributes to industry luminaries like French-Swiss filmmaker and critic Jean-Luc Godard, Japanese actor Ken Takakura and Chinese-American actress Anna May Wong.

All of the films will be shown with Chinese and English subtitles, and most tickets cost between 40 and 60 yuan.