Dread it. Run from it. Destiny arrives all the same. And now it’s here. Or should we say Avengers: Endgame Encore is, enabling Anthony and Joe Russo’s blockbuster 2019 Infinity Saga ender to beat James Cameron’s Avatar at the box office once again. Yes, in news that will surprise approximately nobody, Marvel Studios’ strategically timed pre-Avengers: Doomsday Endgame re-release has built on its chart-topping $86 million opening last weekend and delivered another $40-odd million this week, bringing the movie’s lifetime haul to an eye watering $2.925 billion, squeezing past Avatar‘s $2.923 billion to become the highest-grossing movie of all time once again.
As we recapped last week, James Cameron’s Avatar became the highest-grossing movie of all-time back in 2009 as the self-proclaimed king of the world delivered a sci-fi epic that sung to the tune of a whopping $2.78 billion globally during its phenomenal theatrical run. Then, a decade later, The Russo Brothers’ Endgame took the Na’vi Nation’s title with a super $2.81 billion showing at the box office. Never one to be beaten easily, Cameron’s sci-fi smash flexed its blue muscle at the Chinese box office with a cheeky re-release in 2021 to reclaim the top spot once more. And now, by a margin of a mere $20 million (well, mere in Disney money terms), Endgame has usurped ol’ JC (James Cameron, not the other guy) to reclaim the blockbuster throne and no doubt generate some healthy additional Doomsday buzz.
Despite Endgame‘s big box office showing earning this week’s ticket sale headlines, however, not all of this week’s releases have shared the same level of success — not by a long chalk. The imminent completion of Warner Bros.’ merger with Paramount was marked this weekend with the release of Digger, which will almost definitely now be the last cinematic release by Warner Bros. as its own studio. Unfortunately, despite having Alejandro González Iñárritu at the helm, a timely climate change story to tell, and a starry cast headed up by a never-better Tom Cruise, Digger seems to have dug itself a bit of a hole with cinemagoers, opening to a paltry $8 million domestically and $20 million globally against a reported budget of $160-180 million. Suffice it to say that, barring a minor miracle, Digger Rockwell will not return in the box-office chart top spots. But who knows, at this rate maybe he will return in Avengers: Doomsday. That’d certainly be one way to get Digg to No. 1!
