‘Avengers: Endgame’ passes $2.9 billion — only $15 million separate it from ‘Avatar’s record

The “Avengers: Endgame Encore” theatrical re-release, which began on 25 September, has grossed $109 million worldwide through Thursday — $32 million in America and $77 million internationally — taking the film’s lifetime total to $2.909 billion, past the $2.9 billion threshold.

According to box-office tracker Jatinder Singh, only about $15 million now separate it from “Avatar” (about $2.923 billion) to become the highest-grossing film in history; he predicts the crown could change hands as early as next week, on Sunday at the earliest.

About $5 million of the gap comes from the absence of official figures from India and Thailand.

It is a duel that has lasted for years: “Endgame” passed “Avatar” on 21 July 2019, after 89 days on release; “Avatar” retook the title in March 2021 thanks to its re-release in China (about $58 million), and the 2022 re-release took its total to about $2.923 billion.

“Endgame” had closed its original run at about $2.799 billion, which meant that before the “Encore” re-release, Disney needed about $124 million to retake the crown.

“Encore” opened with $86 million globally ($26 million in America, $60 million internationally), becoming the number 1 film in the world that weekend.

After a week in cinemas, the re-release is close to analysts’ forecasts ($116–160 million), while the film has already recorded 400 million admissions (tickets) worldwide, as Comic Basics reports.

The re-release adds about 4 minutes of new material, shot during the production of “Avengers: Doomsday”, as a bridge to the next Marvel film — “Doomsday” opens on 18 December in the U.S. and 16 December in Britain.

Analysts nevertheless say “Endgame” is unlikely to cross the $3 billion threshold, which would make it the first film in history to reach that figure.