@oldhollywoodcapAVATAR got knocked off its pedestal once before, and the movie that did it was AVENGERS: ENDGAME. That was July 2019, when ENDGAME crossed roughly $2.79 billion worldwide and took the all-time crown. Then AVATAR went back into Chinese theaters in 2021, and the re-release money pushed it back on top, eventually landing around $2.92 billion. So the record changed hands, and then changed back. Now, seven years on, ENDGAME is in theaters again with an ENCORE re-release that has already pulled in an estimated $86 million globally. That brings its new estimated total to $2.885 billion, which leaves it $39 million behind AVATAR. Roughly $40 million is all that separates ENDGAME from the record. This is the same pattern as before: re-releases, not the original runs, decided who held the title last time. And here we are watching it play out again, with the two biggest films of their moment trading the lead through theatrical returns.

@oldhollywoodcapAVATAR got knocked off its pedestal once before, and the movie that did it was AVENGERS: ENDGAME. That was July 2019, when ENDGAME crossed roughly $2.79 billion worldwide and took the all-time crown. Then AVATAR went back into Chinese theaters in 2021, and the re-release money pushed it back on top, eventually landing around $2.92 billion. So the record changed hands, and then changed back. Now, seven years on, ENDGAME is in theaters again with an ENCORE re-release that has already pulled in an estimated $86 million globally. That brings its new estimated total to $2.885 billion, which leaves it $39 million behind AVATAR. Roughly $40 million is all that separates ENDGAME from the record. This is the same pattern as before: re-releases, not the original runs, decided who held the title last time. And here we are watching it play out again, with the two biggest films of their moment trading the lead through theatrical returns.