Marvel Studios’ Encore re-release has helped Avengers: Endgame beat Avatar to become the highest-grossing movie at the box office of all time…again.
Despite not cracking the top five earners for this weekend’s box office returns, Avengers: Endgame Encore managed to scrounge together enough cash to reach a total of $2.9255 billion worldwide. It’s a number that essentially puts it just a few bucks over Avatar’s standing total of $2.9237 billion, securing the Marvel movie’s place as the movie to make the most in theaters.
Considering the Infinity Saga-ending team-up movie first premiered in 2019, you can probably guess that re-releases did a lot of the lifting to help it reach the number it has today. Endgame first passed Avatar when it passed $2.79 billion back in July 2019, just a few months after its initial release date. It was a milestone even director James Cameron celebrated, but Marvel didn’t wear the crown for long.
Thank you for assembling to make Avengers: Endgame the biggest movie of all time. We love you 3000. https://t.co/eZFbN1x724
— Marvel Studios (@MarvelStudios) October 4, 2026
An Avatar re-release from 2021 saw Cameron’s sci-fi epic reclaim victory when its total reached more than $2.81 billion. With one re-release already under its belt, it’s last weekend’s Encore – which attracted a staggering $86 million in its debut – that helped it take the top spot again.
It wasn’t all wins for heroes like Tony Stark and Steve Rogers, though. Endgame’s new place amongst the rankings marks a narrow victory and landed it in seventh place at the domestic box office for the weekend. It also only brought in a dismal worldwide total of just $18.8 million, marking a steep decline from last weekend’s numbers.
It’s still an overall victory, nonetheless. With its spot so loosely secured, though, one can’t help but wonder how long it will be before Avatar makes its own surprise return to theaters to take the crown once again.
Part of the allure for Avengers: Endgame Encore is the new footage it brought to the table. Although bonus content totals about four minutes of runtime across four new scenes, each segment serves as a teaser for December’s Avengers: Doomsday.
The Doctor Doom introduction movie is poised to be another gigantic release for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as it packs in even more cameos and surprises. A new poster for the film was released just yesterday.
Avengers: Endgame Encore’s box office returns are seemingly crawling to a halt, so it’s unclear if it will manage to hit that mythical $3 billion number despite being so painfully close to it. While we wait to see if Disney and Marvel can make it happen, you can see why some Encore watchers were disappointed to learn they were locked out of seeing all of the new teasers.
