Disney's 'Avengers: Endgame' Reclaims Global Box Office Title After Rerelease

Industry Pulse News Desk · 2026-10-04

The Marvel Studios film passed 'Avatar' to become the highest-grossing movie of all time following a theatrical rerelease that brought in $126 million globally.

Walt Disney Co. and Marvel Studios have reclaimed the title of highest-grossing movie of all time after a theatrical rerelease of "Avengers: Endgame" pushed the 2019 blockbuster past James Cameron's "Avatar" in total global ticket sales.

The updated theatrical version, released on Sept. 25 under the title "Avengers: Endgame Encore," generated approximately $126 million globally during its special engagement. The earnings lifted the film’s lifetime box office total to $2.9255 billion, surpassing the $2.9237 billion cumulative mark held by "Avatar."

"Avengers: Endgame" initially claimed the top global box office spot in 2019 before losing the title back to "Avatar" following a theatrical rerelease of the sci-fi epic in China in 2021. The new "Encore" cut included extra footage teasing the upcoming feature "Avengers: Doomsday," as well as an onscreen introduction from stars Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans.

During its debut weekend, the rerelease grossed $26 million domestically and $86 million worldwide. The domestic total marked the third-largest opening ever for a movie rerelease, trailing only special editions of "Star Wars" in 1997 and "The Lion King" in 2011.

Despite a domestic box office decline of more than 80 percent in its second weekend, the rerelease added $18.8 million globally to push the film past "Avatar." The theatrical performance outpaced multiple new film releases, despite "Avengers: Endgame" being available on home streaming platforms for several years.