Avengers: Endgame is crushing it at the global box office. Last weekend, Endgame surpassed Titanic‘s $US 2.18 million gross — a record no one has been able to eclipse since Avatar did it in 2009. Now, after three weekends, Endgame has raked in more than $US 2.48 billion worldwide, which is about $US 299 million short of Avatar‘s gargantuan record.
The fourth Avengers film has beaten almost every single record out there. It is the highest grossing MCU movie, the highest-grossing movie based on a comic book, the highest worldwide opening weekend gross and on and on and on. Endgame is also the top earner in many countries around the world including Malaysia and Indonesia. As of 5 May 2019, Endgame had raked in more than $US 18 million (RM 75 million) at the Malaysian box office, $US 1 million more than Infinity War at the end of its run.
There’s only one (unadjusted to inflation) record left to be beaten and that’s James Cameron’s Avatar, which is sitting comfortably at the top spot having raked in more than $US 2.7 billion. Is it possible for Endgame to beat Avatar? A quick glance at the stats would tell you that victory is inevitable. After all, Endgame is the fastest film to gross over $US 2 billion at the global box office (12 days, as compared to the previous record holder, Avatar‘s 47 days). But it isn’t that simple.
For starters, Endgame‘s run has already started to slow down. This past weekend, the film grossed $US 165.4 million worldwide, a 65% decrease from last week’s $US 428 million. This isn’t a jab at Endgame; The numbers are still staggeringly great. But, as the numbers continue to plummet in the coming weeks, the 22nd MCU movie will be huffing and puffing as it attempts to crawl over the line set by Avatar.
A lot of it has to do with its release date. Avatar was released in December 2009, the only big movie to come out that month, unless we’re counting Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes. The path was also clear in January as Avatar continued to jog its way to the top of the box office mountain. With no other event films out in cinemas, Avatar’s repeat viewings skyrocketed. It wasn’t until March when films like How to Train Your Dragon and Alice in Wonderland graced the big screens. We also have to remember that Avatar has had multiple releases over the years.
However, Endgame is playing a completely different ball game. The coming weeks will see the likes of Aladdin, Godzilla: King of Monsters and X-Men: Dark Phoenix hit the big screens. While these movies aren’t going to beat Endgame at the global box office, they certainly are going to deter repeat viewings. In other words, instead of watching the Avengers whoop Thanos for the 47th time, perhaps I’ll go see Godzilla and Rodan beat each other up instead.
With all that in mind, the odds are certainly stacked against Endgame, but hey, crazier things have happened.
Note that the stats discussed above are all sans inflation. If we take inflation into account then 1939’s Gone With the Wind would still be the highest grossing film of all time.
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