Avengers: Endgame is once again the highest-grossing film of all time. After a second weekend back in cinemas, Marvel’s 2019 blockbuster has lifted its worldwide total to $2.925 billion, just ahead of the $2.923 billion earned by James Cameron’s Avatar. The margin between the two is only $2 million, but it is enough to put Marvel back at the top of the all-time chart for the first time since 2022.
Marvel returned Endgame to cinemas with four new post-credits scenes, a move intended to build interest before Avengers: Doomsday opens on 18 December. The re-release has done more than warm up the audience. Global Box Office projects that Endgame will finish this run with about $2.95 billion worldwide, which would give it a lead of roughly $27 million over Avatar once the run ends.
The two films have traded first place before. Endgame first overtook Avatar in 2019. Three years later, Cameron’s film went back into cinemas ahead of the release of Avatar: The Way of Water and earned enough on that run to take the record back. Some viewers have accused Marvel of rewriting history and even of cheating by counting re-release takings towards the record. Either way, both franchises are now owned by Disney, so whichever film sits at the top, the record belongs to the same company.
The rest of the all-time top ten is mostly made up of recent releases. Spider-Man: Brand New Day is third with $2.505 billion, followed by Avatar: The Way of Water on $2.334 billion and Titanic on $2.257 billion. The Chinese animated film Ne Zha 2 has $2.217 billion, ahead of Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($2.068 billion), Avengers: Infinity War ($2.048 billion), Spider-Man: No Way Home ($1.922 billion) and Zootopia 2 ($1.866 billion).
The success of Spider-Man: Brand New Day suggests that Marvel still has a strong hold on cinema audiences, and attention now moves to whether Avengers: Doomsday can challenge both of the films at the top when it opens on 18 December. Until then, a seven-year-old film is back at the top of the chart, helped by fans willing to return to the cinema for a handful of new scenes.
