Avengers: Endgame released a year ago and was a massive box office success and social, pop-cultural phenomenon, a cinematic event the likes of which moviegoers experience once a decade. It brought in $2.78 billion, dethroning Avatar to become the highest grossing film of all time. Tales have been told of the insane queues, server crashes and mass frenzy that resulted when bookings for Endgame went on sale. Theaters got so full that many of them hosted crazy late night showings: 2:00 AM, 3:30 AM, 5:00 AM – showtimes ran round the clock. It even had the most-read Wikipedia article of 2019.
Fortunately, I lived can recount those details vividly, having lived through that time. Endgame accomplished a gigantic $357 million opening weekend in North America, becoming the first and only motion picture to pass the $300 million opening weekend barrier. Its worldwide weekend amounted to $1.2 billion, the kind of gross that movies like Iron Man 3 and Captain America: Civil War made in their lifetimes. But even with that huge gross, it begs the question of just how much money went into Disney’s pockets. That is to say, how much profit did Avengers: Endgame‘s make?
Deadline shared some details and estimated analysis and it turns out the film raked in almost $890 million in profits alone. That’s after having accounted for its $511 million production budget plus marketing costs as well as payouts to stars and bonuses handed out, which amounted to as much as $175 million. In total, the film spend nearly $899 million in global theatrical costs, marketing and distributing itself to countries worldwide.
The participations handed out were a lot more than the $140 million handed out from Avengers: Infinity War. Robert Downey Jr. alone is estimated to have walked out with a nearly $75 to 80 million payout just like Infinity War‘s that includes $20 million upfront payment and $55 million backend profits. It only helps that Disney demanded a 65% share from movie theaters when 45% to 50% is the norm. Cinema chains on their part were happy to comply, if a bit reluctant or hesitant.
The bottomline is that Avengers: Endgame was a juggernaut and an experience the likes of which will take a long, long time to match. Potential candidates for causing a similar frenzy next range from James Cameron’s Avatar 2 set for a December 2021 release, the next Star Wars film set for a December 2022 release or the MCU’s next grand 10-year conclusion that could unite characters from movies and Disney+ shows. More importantly, the wild success of Endgame also shows the potential for movie theaters to perform and gives hope that the theatrical experience isn’t completely dead yet. Perhaps, in a post-COVID world, there’s still the possibility that a film someday will gross $3 billion.
Want to relive the hysteria that accompanied the Avengers: Endgame releease? Click on the tag link to read through the news articles and see if you can recognize the major news / leak milestones. Also check out my Avengers: Endgame movie review straight from its IMAX release.
