Endgame Retakes All-Time Box Office Crown From Avatar

Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Endgame has reclaimed the title of highest-grossing film of all time worldwide, overtaking James Cameron’s Avatar once again after a theatrical re-release pushed the 2019 superhero epic past the $2.9255 billion mark. The reversal, confirmed over the weekend of October 4, extends one of Hollywood’s most closely watched rivalries — and one that ultimately benefits a single studio.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the second weekend of Disney’s Avengers: Endgame: Encore re-release collected $4.4 million domestically and $14.4 million overseas, bringing Endgame’s overall global sum to $2.9255 billion — barely enough to surpass Avatar’s $2.9237 billion. The gap between the two films is roughly $1.8 million.

A Crown That Keeps Changing Hands

The two films have now traded the all-time box office record multiple times. NPR notes that Endgame first became the highest-grossing film in history in July 2019, when its $2.799 billion total eclipsed Avatar, which had held the title for a decade. Cameron’s sci-fi epic then returned to cinemas — including a first-time release in China in 2021 — and earned enough to retake the top spot ahead of its 2022 sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water.

Now the pattern has repeated in reverse. With a new Avengers sequel on the horizon, Endgame has followed the same playbook. Its Encore re-release, expanded with additional material, was explicitly timed to build momentum for Avengers: Doomsday, which arrives in theaters on December 18.

The re-release itself was a substantial draw. According to Deadline, Encore opened to roughly $86 million globally — $26 million domestic and $60 million international — making it the No. 2 worldwide re-release of all time, behind only 2012’s Titanic 3D. The rerelease has added about $126 million to Endgame’s lifetime worldwide total, with $36.2 million from North America and $89.8 million from international markets.

Disney Wins Either Way

What might look like a fierce rivalry is, in practice, an intra-company affair. Both franchises are Disney releases: the studio acquired 20th Century Fox, Avatar’s original distributor, in 2019. As LiveMint observed, Disney now controls seven of the 10 highest-grossing films worldwide, including Avatar: The Way of Water, Titanic, and Avengers: Infinity War.

“It’s a friendly competition — both films are Disney releases,” NPR film critic Bob Mondello wrote. “And while those numbers are impressive, their jockeying reflects rising ticket prices more than rising attendance.”

That caveat matters. The all-time gross ranking is not adjusted for inflation, meaning these nominal records partly measure rising ticket prices over time rather than greater audience reach. Adjusted for inflation, classic titles such as Gone with the Wind (1939) still rank at the top.

Building Momentum for Doomsday

For Marvel, the timing is strategic. The Encore re-release arrived with additional material and is being used to stoke interest ahead of Doomsday, helmed by the returning Russo brothers. That film opens the same day as Warner Bros.’ Dune: Part Three — a matchup already drawing comparisons to the “Barbenheimer” phenomenon of 2023.

The success of the rerelease is a promising sign for the big-budget sequel. LiveMint noted that Endgame’s return to the top “has come not from a new sequel, but from audiences once again paying to experience the same blockbuster on the big screen.”

What to Watch

The record now rests with Endgame — for the moment. The crown has proven remarkably mobile in recent years, and with both Avatar and Avengers franchises still active, another reversal is far from unthinkable. Cameron has further Avatar installments in development, and Doomsday could itself reshape the all-time chart if it performs to expectations.

For Disney, the immediate takeaway is simpler: whichever film sits at No. 1, the studio collects the ticket revenue. And, as LiveMint put it, “for now, the crown belongs to the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes again.”