Avengers: Endgame Is Chasing the All-Time Box Office Record Again

Few box office rivalries have been as dramatic as the one between ‘Avengers: Endgame‘ and ‘Avatar’, two blockbusters that have traded the title of biggest movie ever like a championship belt. The Marvel epic first seized the crown on July 21, 2019, after 89 days in release, finishing at $2.797 billion and narrowly beating James Cameron’s $2.789 billion total. Now the ‘Avengers: Endgame’ box office story has a surprise new chapter.

The victory didn’t last. In March 2021, ‘Avatar’ snatched the record back with a re-release in China, needing just 2 days to push its global haul to $2.802 billion. The ‘Endgame’ directors, Joe and Anthony Russo, even congratulated Cameron on social media, and later re-releases helped stretch ‘Avatar’s’ lifetime tally to $2.923 billion.

Marvel has finally answered back. ‘Avengers: Endgame’ returned to theaters on September 25 as ‘Avengers: Endgame Encore’, and the re-release has already pushed the film past $2.8 billion at the global box office. That leap came after the Encore release pulled in roughly $10 million worldwide, leaving the film about $120 million shy of the original ‘Avatar’.

The Encore isn’t just a straight reissue either. Marvel Studios added around 4 minutes of new footage and scenes designed to bridge the gap into ‘Avengers: Doomsday’. Audiences also get an exclusive preview of the next team-up, which is set to arrive in theaters on December 18.

The early numbers look promising. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the re-release earned $3.8 million from Thursday previews, with the studio projecting about $25 million domestically and another $25 million to $30 million internationally.

‘AVENGERS: ENDGAME’ has crossed $2.8B at the global box office. Potentially soon becoming the highest grossing film of all time. https://t.co/oKAFZMYi3Z

— The Hollywood Handle (@HollywoodHandle) September 25, 2026

Gold Derby’s forecast has ‘Endgame Encore’ on track to win the weekend with roughly $25 million to $28 million, fending off a crowded slate that includes ‘Resident Evil’, ‘Primetime’, ‘Heart of the Beast’, and ‘Forgotten Island’.

If the Marvel reissue clears $25.6 million, it would beat the 2012 3D re-release of ‘Titanic’ for the biggest re-release opening weekend ever, handing Cameron yet another record-book headache. The demand isn’t limited to North America. In India, the Encore opened to approximately Rs 7.25 crore on its first day, landing among the top 5 re-release openings in the country.

Here’s the catch: even the most optimistic opening weekend projections won’t erase the entire deficit at once. ‘Endgame’ will need strong legs across multiple weekends to cover the remaining distance and officially dethrone ‘Avatar’ as the highest-grossing film of all time, re-releases included.

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

History also suggests Cameron’s film won’t go down quietly. Its 2022 theatrical re-release brought in $30 million worldwide, becoming the biggest movie at the global box office that weekend. Some analysts have long argued that ‘Avatar’s’ repeated returns to theaters could make it very hard for ‘Endgame’ to reclaim the top spot for good.

Fans online are already reading the tea leaves. Replies to the viral update jokingly predicted that ‘Avatar’ will simply get rereleased again next year, while others poked fun at how reliably the re-release strategy pays off for studios.

For Marvel, though, the Encore serves a double purpose. It gives fans a reason to revisit one of the biggest cinematic events in modern memory while building momentum for ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ ahead of its December debut, and if the ticket sales keep rolling in, the Russo brothers’ finale could find itself back on top of the all-time chart.

Have something to add? Let us know in the comments!