'Avengers: Endgame Encore' Takes a Brutal Second-Week Tumble at the Box Office

Hollywood has leaned heavily on re-releases lately, but few have been marketed like ‘Avengers: Endgame Encore.’ Disney brought the 2019 blockbuster back to theaters on Sept. 25 with new footage that sets up ‘Avengers: Doomsday,’ which arrives on Dec. 18. The strategy gave a seven-year-old movie something fresh to sell.

It worked at first. The re-release opened to $26 million domestically, with a $11.2 million Friday, an $8.6 million Saturday and a $6.2 million Sunday. Overseas it added $60 million for an $86 million global start, and the domestic number was the third-best opening ever for a re-release, behind only 1997’s ‘Star Wars’ and 2011’s ‘The Lion King 3D.’

Disney’s global distribution chief, Andrew Cripps, told Deadline the result shows there is “a massive fanbase for this franchise.” The second weekend is telling a different story. Box office analyst Luiz Fernando reports that the re-release grossed about $1.1 million on its second Friday, a 90% drop from its opening-day Friday.

Fernando noted that this is a sharper fall than ‘The Lion King,’ whose re-release earned $6.1 million on the comparable day, down 31.9%. His point is that audiences treat a reissue as a reissue, even with new scenes, a massive promotional campaign and the Avengers name attached. The only exception, in his view, is ‘The Lion King.’

Unless you are #TheLionKing, a reissue will always be treated by audiences as such at US #BoxOffice, even if you add new scenes, give it a massive promo campaign & even if it’s the #Avengers!#AvengersEndgameEncore rerelease grossed solid 1.1M on 2nd FRI, but harsh -90% drop from… pic.twitter.com/4eee3PWdhc
— Luiz Fernando (@Luiz_Fernando_J) October 3, 2026

Even so, the film’s overall picture is strong. ‘Endgame’ has an eight-day re-release total of $32.9 million and a lifetime U.S. run of $891.3 million. Fernando expects a second three-day weekend of $3.5 million to $4.5 million, which would be a drop of 82% to 87%.

Deadline’s projection is in the same range. As of Saturday morning, it had ‘Encore’ earning $4.2 million over the weekend, an 87% decline that Screen Rant says would be the biggest second-week drop of any release or re-release in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. If the numbers hold, it would tie a concert film for the worst sophomore weekend on that list.

The reasons are fairly easy to see. The extra footage was already circulating online after its Korean release, and JoBlo notes that everyone now knows about the added scenes. Anyone who wanted to see them seemingly did so on opening weekend.

The release strategy also made the opening unusually front-loaded. Disney says the film played in more than 3,000 theaters, including over 1,300 Infinity Vision screens, which accounted for about 52% of the opening-weekend gross. That kind of premium-format event business tends to burn off quickly.

Still, the headline numbers are impressive. The $86 million global debut was the second-highest ever for a re-release, behind only the 2012 ‘Titanic 3D’ reissue. ‘Avengers: Endgame’ now has $2.885 billion worldwide, just shy of ‘Avatar’s’ $2.92 billion.

Reassemble the team & relive the experience as Avengers Endgame: Encore returns to theaters September 25.

Tickets now available for IMAX and Infinity Vision screens: https://t.co/pZZ4PiOyQb pic.twitter.com/2wKSVG4FLz
— Marvel Studios (@MarvelStudios) August 25, 2026

Studios are clearly watching. Sony is following ‘Encore’ with a ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ re-release that also features new footage. If the pattern holds, a big opening and a steep fall may be the expected shape of a modern re-release.

For Marvel, the real prize is still ahead. ‘Doomsday’ arrives on Dec. 18, and ‘Encore’ has already done its job of reminding fans why they cared.