‘Avengers: Endgame Encore’ Reopens the Race for the All-Time Box Office Crown as Overseas Numbers Roll In
The all-time box office throne has had a familiar occupant for years, but Marvel is not done trying to reclaim it. ‘Avengers: Endgame‘ briefly held the title of highest-grossing film ever before ‘Avatar’ pushed past it after a re-release. Now the Russo brothers’ 2019 finale is back in theaters, and the numbers are giving the chase new life.
The gap is not huge. ‘Avengers: Endgame’ sits at $2.799 billion worldwide, while ‘Avatar‘ stands at $2.9237 billion, leaving a difference of about $124.3 million. Domestic ticket sales alone won’t cover that, with tracking putting the Encore at $25 million to $28 million for its opening weekend, which would leave it roughly $96 million to $99 million short.
That is where international audiences come in. The first overseas markets opened this week, and one box office account has already put numbers to the early performance. On September 24, the X account Box Office Forecast said the race for the all-time crown was back on and shared its own estimates for day one in France, Indonesia and South Korea.
🚨Box Office Alert🚨
— Box Office Forecast 🎬 (@BoxOfficeFcst) September 24, 2026
The race for the ALL-TIME BOX OFFICE crown is back on!
Avengers Endgame Encore begins its journey to chase down Avatar and reclaim the🥇spot!
📊 Day-1 box office comparisons:
🆚 Avatar Re-release (2022)
🇫🇷~120%✅|🇮🇩~300%✅|🇰🇷~110%✅
🆚 Avengers Endgame… pic.twitter.com/mDbmUEdWGw
By that account’s estimates, the Encore’s opening day reached roughly 120% of the 2022 ‘Avatar’ re-release’s day one in France, about 300% in Indonesia and about 110% in South Korea. Against the original ‘Endgame’ debut, it was much lower, at about 10% in France, 15% in Indonesia and 5% in South Korea. The post noted that about $125 million is needed to make history.
These are unofficial estimates rather than studio-reported figures, so they are best read as a rough gauge. They still tell a clear story: the Encore is beating the ‘Avatar’ re-release’s launch pace in those markets while landing far below the frenzy of the original release, which is exactly what a catalogue re-issue should do.
Some real numbers back up the momentum. In Indonesia, Cinepoint reported 131,692 admissions across 2,108 showtimes on day one, enough to return the country’s overall admissions record to ‘Avengers: Endgame’. South Korea is a special case, since the original drew 13.97 million viewers there and remains the highest-grossing foreign film in the country, and the Encore opened September 23 in Infinity Vision-certified theaters around the Chuseok holiday.
China could be the deciding market. Presales for the September 24-27 window reached $965,000 after two days and $2.2 million after five, according to box office trackers. Koimoi reported the film is tracking above $20 million there, and could pass the $21.2 million opening weekend of the ‘Avatar’ re-release if it clears $21 million, though sales look front-loaded toward Thursday previews and Friday.
Other markets are strong too. India is among the standout territories, and trackers see a possible global opening north of $50 million. Domestic projections come from Variety ($25 million to $28 million) and Murphy’s Multiverse ($22 million to $27 million), and a top-end result would beat the $25.6 million ‘Titanic 3D’ opening for the biggest re-release weekend on record.
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
The Encore is more than a simple rerun. It adds four minutes of footage, a new post-credits scene and an exclusive first look at ‘Avengers: Doomsday’, which arrives December 18 with Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom. Premium IMAX and Infinity Vision screenings include an extra sneak peek, which gives fans a reason to buy another ticket.
Timing is also on Marvel’s side, since ‘Doomsday’ is arriving just as Sony’s ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ has passed ‘Endgame’ on the domestic all-time chart. A comeback on the global list would give Marvel a headline before its next big event. But the film still needs a long international run, and it faces competition from ‘Resident Evil’ and other new releases.
Can Avengers: Endgame Encore reclaim the all-time box office crown from Avatar?
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