Avengers Endgame vs Avatar: Marvel epic beats original box office haul of James Cameron’s film

Marvel’s Avengers: Endgame has beaten the original box office haul of James Cameron’s Avatar, ahead of its re-release with new footage this Friday.

A few days ahead of its wide re-release in American theatres (as of now), Avengers: Endgame has beaten an Avatar record that Marvel would hope translates to a more significant victory in the coming few days. With $2.75 billion in the bank in exactly two months of release, Endgame has beaten Avatar’s original box office haul, before the film was re-released itself.

Avengers Endgame has made $2.751 billion worldwide; Avatar in its original run had made $2.749 billion.

In its original theatrical run, Avatar made $2.749 billion worldwide. It added $33 million in its 2010 re-release, which gave fans nine minutes of extra, unseen footage. Endgame would need to make more than that to beat the $2.788 total of Avatar, which remains unbeaten in almost a decade.

Crucially, Forbes reports that Avatar made over $200 million in China in around 90% fewer theatres than there are now. Endgame is the third highest grossing film of all time in China, with a total haul of over $600 million. Endgame is the second highest grossing film in the US, after Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and the highest grossing film of the year in India, as well as the biggest foreign import ever.

The re-release will include a post-credits scene that wasn’t included in the original theatrical cut, which is still playing in theatres, and made a little less than $2 million in the US this weekend. The new version will also include a special Stan Lee tribute, according to Marvel president Kevin Feige, and a tease for Spider-Man: Far From Home.

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Endgame will need to make approximately $35 million worldwide in its re-release in order to beat Avatar’s record. By comparison, the 2012 3D only re-release of Cameron’s Titanic added $350 million to its total. Inspired by Titanic’s success, Steven Spielberg oversaw a 3D re-release of the first Jurassic World, which made $100 million. A re-release of The Lion King made close to $200 million.

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