‘Avengers: Endgame’ Is on the Verge of Reclaiming the Box Office Crown From ‘Avatar’
Few rivalries in Hollywood have been as dramatic as the one between ‘Avengers: Endgame’ and ‘Avatar.’ The two blockbusters have traded the title of biggest movie ever like a championship belt for years. Now the ‘Avengers: Endgame’ box office run is entering what could be its final lap.
The history is a back-and-forth. ‘Endgame‘ passed ‘Avatar’ on July 21, 2019, after 89 days in release, only to see James Cameron’s film retake the crown in March 2021 after a China re-release. Later re-releases, including a successful 2022 run, stretched ‘Avatar’s’ lifetime total to about $2.923 billion, while ‘Endgame’ finished its original run at roughly $2.799 billion.
The latest chapter came with ‘Avengers: Endgame Encore,’ a theatrical re-release that began on Sept. 25. It opened to $86 million worldwide, including $26 million domestically and $60 million overseas, and became the No. 1 movie on the planet for the weekend. That put ‘Endgame’ about $39 million behind ‘Avatar.’
On Oct. 2, box office tracker Jatinder Singh shared the newest numbers. Through Thursday, ‘Encore’ had a running total of $109 million worldwide, with $32 million domestic and $77 million international. The overall cume sits at $2.909 billion, which leaves ‘Endgame’ just $15 million short of ‘Avatar,’ with the tracker noting that missing grosses from India and Thailand account for about $5 million of the gap.
$109M worldwide running total for #AvengersEndgameEncore through THU, with $32M DOM & $77M INT.
— ਜਤਿੰਦਰ ਸਿੰਘ (@Itsjat32) October 2, 2026
Overall cume: $2.909B. Just $15M* short of #Avatar to become the #1 movie of all time. ETA on that sometime next week, Sunday at the earliest.
* = including missing grosses from… pic.twitter.com/4lwGO1aHsD
The projected arrival time is soon. According to the tracker, ‘Endgame’ should take the all-time No. 1 spot sometime next week, with Sunday as the earliest possible date. Before the re-release, Disney and Marvel Studios needed about $124 million to get there.
‘Encore’ is also performing far better than a typical re-release. Analysts had suggested that its total could land between $116 million and $160 million, depending on how it held up, and it is already near the low end of that range after a single week. The film has now registered 400 million admissions worldwide.
Part of the appeal is the extra footage. The re-release adds about four minutes of new material shot during ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ production, giving fans a bridge between the two Avengers stories. Disney seems to be betting that the extra scenes can reignite interest before ‘Doomsday’ arrives in December.
The additions feel like a genuine prologue. After Steve Rogers and Peggy Carter’s final dance, new footage shows Loki appearing in the branched timeline created by Steve’s choice. A mid-credits scene follows Bruce Banner, who is tinkering with a serum to suppress the Hulk in an underground bunker before Doctor Doom breaks in and says he is there to collect him.
The final stretch reveals Robert Downey Jr.’s Victor Von Doom forging his Doctor Doom mask, with the hammer strikes timed to the clanging sound that closed the original film’s credits. Another post-credits scene follows the TVA discovering that the multiverse is collapsing. Fans have been dissecting the clues about Doom’s plans, runes and Banner’s apparent absence from the main ‘Doomsday’ cast list.
Reassemble the team & relive the experience as Avengers Endgame: Encore returns to theaters September 25.
— Marvel Studios (@MarvelStudios) August 25, 2026
Tickets now available for IMAX and Infinity Vision screens: https://t.co/pZZ4PiOyQb pic.twitter.com/2wKSVG4FLz
Even if ‘Endgame’ reclaims the crown, history suggests the title may not be permanent. ‘Avatar’ has returned to theaters repeatedly and could do so again, and Cameron’s franchise has a long history of storming back. Analysts have also noted that ‘Endgame’ is unlikely to push its lifetime gross past $3 billion, which would have made it the first film to reach that milestone.
For Marvel, the timing couldn’t be better. ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ opens on Dec. 18 in the U.S. and Dec. 16 in the U.K., and a record headline now only adds fuel to the build-up.
Do you think Avengers: Endgame will reclaim the all-time box office crown from Avatar?
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