Avengers: Endgame released in theaters again this weekend and is off to a fairly decent start. The Marvel Cinematic Universe film capping a 22 movie saga earne $1.87 million from its Friday showings in the US. On the surface, that may seem like a small number but it’s otherwise a pretty good score in a packed summer with the movie itself coming out two months after its official release. At this rate, speculation suggests that Endgame will end up making anywhere between $5 to $7 million over the weekend.
The re-release itself is relatively sparse on features. Unlike Avatar which had some 7 to 8 minutes of footage from future dystopian earth, Endgame includes a post-credits tribute to Stan Lee, an introductory commentary by co-director Joe Russo and an unfinished deleted scene featuring the Hulk. Of course the real objective is to see Endgame sail past Avatar to become the highest grossing movie of all time worldwide and while the gap between the two is quite narrow, it’s still there. As of this writing, some $35 million separates Avatar ($2.788 billion) from Endgame ($2.753 billion) and it certainly doesn’t look like this weekend or week alone will be able to bridge it.
Endgame has had a historic box-office run, making nearly as much as Avatar made spending 9 months in theaters. Releasing in a busy summer season with 3D no longer being the draw that it was back in 2009 means the final few weeks have been exponentially tough. There’s still hope though with Spider-Man: Far From Home coming out next week, Endgame could see a small surge much like the boost that Captain Marvel got from the release of Endgame back in April. With another month or so of chugging along at the box office, it isn’t inconceivable that Endgame could take over Avatar to hold the new record for Box Office No. 1.
Until that happens though, it’ll have to be content with being No. 2. And that’s not a bad feat in itself. At this point, there’s barely any record that Avengers: Endgame hasn’t broken or touched in some capacity. The next few days should be interesting to observe at the box-office. As much as the success of Avatar is a landmark in original science-fiction filmmaking, people are rooting for Endgame to become the new champ and for once, have the reigning film be the most talked about film in a long while.
Avengers: Endgame has returned to theaters now. Watch it while you still can. Spider-Man: Far From Home is set to follow next week.
