A couple of months ago the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) released its long-awaited, end-all movie, Avengers: Endgame to theaters. The hopes and dreams of many, including those who worked with the movie and those who merely watched the film, was that Endgame would beat Avatar as the largest grossing movie of all time. A few weeks and a special “extended” edition release later, and it did.
The Endgame
In 2009 Avatar came out, earning $2.788 billion in global box office receipts. [1] For the past ten years, Avatar has remained undefeated, with every movie released since then earning less with their box office receipts. Until Avengers: Endgame. MCU already had a large fanbase, its last movie had been intense, making the audience want to know the end of the story, and the secrecy surrounding the filming of the movie had everyone on edge with anticipation. There was no way that they could not beat Avatars receipts.
Until they didn’t. At the end of June, it was obvious that Endgame wasn’t going to pass Avatar and become the new biggest grossing movie of all time.
So they sent Avengers: Endgame back to the theaters, this time with a few deleted scenes and extra footage (that had people hoping against hope would cause the end of Endgame to change somehow). [2] How many people made the extra trip back to the theater to watch Endgame for the fifth time? Enough to bring Endgame into the endzone.
$2.795 Billion
Avengers: Endgame has now earned more than $2.795 billion in global box office receipts. About $857.672 million came from North America, and around $1.937 billion was from overseas, mainly from China, who showed a surprising amount of interest in Endgame. China’s new interest in the MCU has gone farther than just Endgame, however, causing Avengers: Infinity War, Spider-Man: Far from Home and Spider-Man: Homecoming to all make more than expected overseas.
Now Disney and Fox own some of the biggest movies ever released. Including the biggest Hollywood movie ever in China, Avengers: Endgame, the biggest overseas grosser, Avatar, the biggest domestic earner Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ and the biggest global grosser Avengers: Endgame.
Notes:
- ^Mendelson, Scott. “‘Avengers: Endgame’ Winds Down With $2.795 Billion Worldwide (Box Office).” Forbes, 8 Aug. 2019, www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2019/08/08/avengers-endgame-infinity-war-avatar-marvel-iron-man-black-panther-last-jedi-star-wars-spider-man-pikachu-mulan-china-box-disney-office/#232a447943b3. (go back ↩)
- ^Keane, Sean. “Avengers: Endgame rerelease’s deleted scene features beloved Die Hard actor.” CNET, 26 July 2019, www.cnet.com/news/avengers-endgame-rerelease-postcredits-scenes-explained. (go back ↩)
