Endgame's $126 million encore retakes the box-office record from Avatar by $1.8 million

Endgame's lead over Avatar is $1.8 million, the gap between $2.9255 billion and $2.9237 billion ^[3][11]. Take out the Encore's roughly $126 million and the original run sits near $2.80 billion, about $124 million short of Avatar ^[2][18][19].

Measured against that target, the second-weekend fall looks different. Domestic sales dropped more than 80% from a $26 million opening, so the domestic weekend came in below about $5.2 million ^[1][6][17]. Worldwide, the same weekend added $18.8 million, roughly ten times the final margin ^[2][20]. If the run had ended before that weekend, Endgame would still trail Avatar by about $17 million ^[21].

The shape of the run fits a crowd that already knew the film. About 68% of the Encore's gross came in its opening weekend ^[1][2][12], and Endgame has been available to stream for years ^[8]. In my view, people paid for a theatrical event: a few minutes of footage teasing December's "Avengers: Doomsday" and an introduction from Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans ^[4].

The report does not include what the Encore cost to make or market, so its profit cannot be checked. The revenue is clear enough. According to box office analyst David A. Gross, rereleases rarely earn more than $10 million; the Encore made about 12.6 times that ^[13][22]. The deal term I find most interesting is the Doomsday footage. It is a tease for Disney's next Avengers film, shown to customers who had paid to watch it, so in effect part of that film's marketing ran inside a ticketed product ^[4]. Disney did not need a new film to top the box office in the opening weekend and outgross three new non-franchise releases in the second ^[1][5].

Two readings fit these numbers. The broad one says known characters still pay, and this summer gives it support: "Toy Story 5" passed $1.14 billion and "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" reached about $2.5 billion ^[9][10]. The narrow one says a few specific films pay, and Marvel's own record supports it. Its three releases last year grossed roughly $1.3 billion combined, less than half of Endgame alone, and only two Marvel films crossed $1 billion between 2020 and this summer ^[14]. Legacy titles including "Masters of the Universe" and "Supergirl" underperformed this summer, while "Obsession," made for under $1 million, passed $500 million ^[15][16].

I think the evidence supports the narrow reading. The Encore's $126 million is about a tenth of what those three newer Marvel films made together ^[23], and every dollar of it went to the 2019 peak. That view is wrong if the audience that came back for Endgame follows the franchise to "Doomsday" in December in similar numbers.