Avengers: Endgame once again beats Avatar as highest-grossing movie of all time

A scene from Marvel's Avengers: Endgame is shown. The film has once again become the highest-earning movie. (Marvel Studios)Social SharingMarvel's Avengers: Endgame recaptured its title this weekend as the highest-grossing movie of all time (not accounting for inflation). With a gross of $2.9255 billion US, the Disney title narrowly superseded James Cameron's biggest release, Avatar, at $2.9237 billion US.

The shift follows Endgame's recent re-release in theatres, and represents the second time it has overtaken Avatar at the box office. Hitting theatres late last month with four additional minutes, the slightly recut version of Marvel's superhero super-collage debuted to $86 million US at the global box office ($26 million US domestic), according to parent company Disney.

The film was re-released as an anticipatory tee-up to Avengers: Doomsday, the next in the Marvel Cinematic Universe's cycle of big-budget team-up films. Due to release Dec. 18, that movie will reintroduce a number of familiar faces, including stars like Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans.

It is a chance for the MCU to recapture the cultural zeitgeist after disappointing recent entries — like Thunderbolts* and Captain America: Brave New World — whose new leading characters failed to capture audience interest.

Among re-releases, only 1997's Star Wars: A New Hope ($35.9 million US) and 2011's The Lion King ($30.2 million US) have opened higher than Endgame in domestic cinemas. That was until 2019, when the Marvel film overtook Avatar, the intergalactic film about war between Na'vi and humans, shortly after its release.

This image released by Marvel Studios shows a scene from Avengers: Endgame. (Marvel Studios/Disney)It was a historic achievement; Cameron had actually individually held the record since 1998, when Titanic became the all-time highest-grossing film. While the ocean-liner epic reached its gross of $1.84 billion US via markedly lower ticket prices, Avatar's ascendance was still shocking, surging to the top spot in 2010 after just 39 days in theatres. 

But when Endgame finally broke his streak in 2019, Cameron did not appear to be a sore loser.

“Oel ngati kameie,” the Canadian New Zealand director shared on X (then Twitter) at the time, using a phrase from his film's fictional language. “I see you, Marvel. Congratulations to Avengers: Endgame on becoming the new box-office king.”

But after a 2021 re-release in China, Cameron's Avatar beat Marvel once again, catapulting to a gross of over $2.8 billion US. Endgame directors Joe and Anthony Russo then took to social media to congratulate Cameron, writing in a post, “Passing the gauntlet back to you.” 

The latest record flip-flop comes at a uniquely unpredictable time for the box office. Hollywood had its best summer in a decade this year, posting $4.76 billion US in domestic ticket sales, according to analytics firm Rentrak.

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But it came along with a slew of poor performers, like Steven Spielberg's return to sci-fi filmmaking, Disclosure Day, and the Spielberg-style nostalgia dinosaur flick The End of Oak Street, which similarly failed to pull audiences in despite strong reviews and famous faces like Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor.

Then the Jacob Elordi-led apocalypse film The Dog Stars let down 20th Century Studios, bombing with roughly $8 million US domestic in its opening weekend against a reported $80-million US production budget. Tom Cruise's Digger saw perhaps the A-lister's biggest flop of his career, opening with a shocking $8 million US domestically against a reported budget of between $125 million US to $180 million US.

That is on top of a dismal year for studio Warner Bros., none of whose offerings surpassed $100 million US in the domestic box office. 

Meanwhile, strange genre fare — like Obsession, Resident Evil and Backrooms — has pulled in strong numbers, suggesting audiences are more than ever interested in the surprising and specific over the established franchise.

Jackson Weaver is a reporter and film critic for CBC's entertainment news team in Toronto. You can reach him at jackson.weaver@cbc.ca.