Disney and Marvel's surprise re-release of Avengers: Endgame is upon us, and it looks
as though the companies have a single goal in mind: rake in enough money to make the
superhero ensemble the highest-grossing movie of all time.
There's just one big, blue problem standing between Endgame and that highly sought-after
top spot: Avatar.
"The Navi say that every person is born twice.
The second time is when you earn your place among the people."
Directed by James Cameron, Avatar earned a whopping $2.749 billion worldwide when it
launched in 2009.
The flick, a sci-fi epic starring Sam Worthington as a former marine named Jake who travels
to Pandora and befriends the Na'vi people went on to score even more money at the box
office when 20th Century Fox decided to re-release it in 2010.
In its second theatrical outing, Avatar surpassed Cameron's disaster romance epic Titanic to
become the biggest film in history based on global revenue.
Avatar now stands tall atop a pile of cash that amounts to $2.788 billion.
Avengers: Endgame, the culmination of over 10 years of the Marvel Cinematic Universe
brought to life by sibling filmmakers Joe and Anthony Russo, quickly soared past the
$2 billion benchmark at the box office after its debut.
During its initial theatrical release that officially began on April 26, Endgame effortlessly
beat out Titanic, which took home $2.187 billion worldwide, to become the second best-grossing
movie in cinematic history.
"Are you serious?"
"Yeah."
"Yes!
Haha!"
Though Endgame's commercial success slowly tapered off following its massive opening,
the film currently posts a staggering $2.751 billion in global revenue, with screenings
still happening as of Monday, June 24th.
Clearly, Avatar and Avengers: Endgame are neck and neck.
The latter needs roughly $37 million more in global profits to push past the former
and be crowned as the highest-earning movie ever.
But is that possible?
Can Endgame really make nearly $40 million worldwide when Disney and Marvel kick off
the re-release on Friday, June 28th?
"If we do this, how do we know it's gonna end any differently than it did before?"
It seems tough, but not impossible.
When Fox put Avatar back in theaters a year after its original release, showing off nine
minutes of never-before-seen footage that cost more than $1 million per minute to produce,
the film took home just over $33 million globally.
Accounting for the rise in ticket prices, from an average $7.89 per ticket in 2010 to
an average $9.01 per ticket in 2019 according to Box Office Mojo, the Avatar re-release
would have made about $37.7 million had it been rolled out this year.
There's arguably a much bigger market for Avengers: Endgame than there was for Avatar,
given the film's mass appeal and diehard fanbase.
That will certainly factor into how much money the Endgame re-release pulls in, as its second
round of success is largely down to how many people head out to theaters to see the new
version of the movie.
The extra content included in the re-release of Avengers: Endgame should draw viewers back
in, even those who have already watched the super-sized superhero movie several times.
Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige clarified in an interview with Screen Rant when news
of the re-release went public that the new version of the movie isn't an alternate or
extended cut; instead, it features extra footage that's tacked onto the end of the three-hour
film fans have likely already seen before.
Feige told Screen Rant:
"[It's] not an extended cut, but there will be a version going into theaters with a bit
of a marketing push with a few new things at the end of the movie.
If you stay and watch the movie, after the credits, there'll be a deleted scene, a little
tribute, and a few surprises."
"Trust me, true believer…Trust me — "
Yup, it's assumed that the tribute Feige spoke of is one dedicated to Marvel Comics maestro
Stan Lee, who passed away at the age of 95 in November 2018.
The mystery surrounding the deleted scene and the "surprises" that await fans after
the credits roll still remains, and Marvel is probably banking on that intrigue translating
into ticket sales.
Normally, curiosity kills the cat, but in this case, it could be the key to Avengers:
Endgame shattering the biggest movie record there is.
The Avengers: Endgame re-release is said to begin on Friday, June 28th.
It's unclear how long the new version will stay in theaters.
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