It wasn't long ago that the Marvel Cinematic Universe had the highest-grossing movie of all time, but now Disney has made it even harder for Avengers: Endgame to beat Avatar's box office again. The lead-up to Avengers: Endgame's release made it clear that Marvel Studios had a big box office hit on its hands, as the star-studded superhero epic shattered just about every box office record imaginable. This included Kevin Feige proudly announcing at San Diego Comic-Con in 2019 that Avengers: Endgame was now the biggest movie ever and had passed James Cameron's Avatar for a box office crown it wore for nearly a decade.

The race to see if Avengers: Endgame could beat Avatar to become the highest-grossing movie was expected to be tight after the MCU movie blew past the $1 billion mark in just five days. It then reached $2 billion in only eleven days and continued to outpace James Cameron's sci-fi movie, largely due to Avatar's incredible success coming through the film's unmatched staying power at the box office. By the end of Avengers: Endgame's theatrical run, it had earned $2.797 billion worldwide, just above Avatar's $2.789 billion. This made it quite clear that the original could reclaim its box office title at a later point, especially since Disney and Cameron were in the midst of working on four Avatar sequels.

Related: Why Marvel Is Pretending Endgame Is The Final Avengers Movie

Avengers: Endgame's claim to being the biggest movie of all time didn't last long, as Avatar took back the box office record the next year. However, the jockeying by Disney to see which of their movies will get to say it is the highest-grossing movie ever has made it an ongoing topic of interest. While the Avengers: Endgame might swing back to beat Avatar's box office again, Disney is making that even harder for Marvel Studios to accomplish now.

How Avatar Passed Endgame's Box Office (& How Much More It Made)

Avatar Avengers Endgame Box Office

When Avengers: Endgame concluded its theatrical run ahead of Avatar's box office, it didn't take long for speculation to mount that James Cameron's movie could reclaim its title. The movie had been re-released back in 2010, netting another $44.8M, and the upcoming sequels seemed like the perfect excuse to put the original in theaters once more. Disney didn't wait for Avatar 2's release to make this happen. In 2020, a second re-release brought in another $1M during COVID, and Avatar received a surprise re-release in China in 2021. Chinese moviegoers responded incredibly well to the re-release and allowed the movie to easily move past Avengers: Endgame's worldwide box office total and become the highest-grossing movie ever for the second time.

The Chinese haul for Avatar's box office during its 2021 re-release amounted to $57.7 million. This pushed the movie well beyond what Avengers: Endgame had made. Avatar now sits atop the all-time box office standings with a record $2,847,379,794 box office total. Over Avatar's 3 re-releases, the movie has brought in almost another $100M in total, resulting in a sizable gap between Avatar and Avengers: Endgame records of $49.2M.

Disney's Next Avatar Re-Release Will Extend Lead Over Endgame

Avatar Avengers endgame box office record

Avengers: Endgame's hope of passing Avatar down the road is now becoming even harder thanks to Disney's latest plan to re-release James Cameron's 2009 sci-fi filmAvatar: The Way of Water is officially coming to theaters on December 16, 2022, meaning nearly 13 years will have passed since general audiences went to Pandora and were introduced to this franchise. Disney knows that there are plenty of people who either haven't seen Avatar in theaters or want to re-experience the film in the big-screen format, potentially even in 3D again. It is for that reason that the studio has confirmed plans for Avatar to get a global re-release on September 23, 2022. The latest re-release will come with remastered sound and visuals.

Related: Every Film To Become The Highest-Grossing Movie Of All Time (& For How Long)

It's unclear how big of a hit Avatar's re-release will be, but anything it does here will continue to extend its box office lead over Avengers: Endgame. Since it has been so long since the movie was in theaters, arguments can be made for the re-release being a major hit or not much of a financial gain at all. However, Disney is likely to heavily market the re-release and pull out plenty of tricks to get audiences excited to see Avatar and Avatar: The Way of Water in theaters. The remastered sound and visuals will be a nice touch, but it won't be surprising if Disney also attaches a special look at Avatar: The Way of Water (such as the opening 15 minutes or so) to the re-release to increase the likelihood of audiences going back to the theater for a rewatch. Whether Avatar makes another $10M or another $150M during this re-release, the margin between it and Avengers: Endgame will only be larger.

Why An Avengers: Endgame Re-Release Won't Be A Big Deal

Avengers Endgame Box Office Money

Marvel Studios could always re-release Avengers: Endgame at some point in the future, but it will likely not be as big of a deal as Avatar's. One of the biggest factors that should contribute to Avatar's re-release being a success is the extended gap between the original theatrical rollout and its first sequel. Marvel might currently not have any official plans for more Avengers movies, but Endgame will not be the last major event film the MCU produces. While Avengers: Endgame could play a major role in setting up the events of that future film, such as Secret Wars, there will also be dozens of other MCU movies out by then that play bigger parts in the lead up of the crossover. Unless Marvel waits a full decade for another Avengers movie and re-releases Endgame as part of the marketing, there's unlikely to be enough demand to see it on the big screen again - especially when the IMAX format is available on Disney+.

Marvel could also elect to share the first footage from several upcoming projects after Avengers: Endgame's credits in a re-release in an effort to increase interest, but that would leak online the first day undoubtedly. The best way for Marvel to bring enough interest in an Avengers: Endgame re-release would be to promise a new version of the movie. There are several unfinished deleted scenes from Avengers: Endgame that could be completed and added back into the 3-hour blockbuster, ranging from Smart Hulk being a superhero to Tony Stark seeing a grown-up Morgan Stark in the Soul World. Plenty of fans would be curious enough to see how the movie plays with these additional scenes that it could go on another box office run.

Will Avengers: Endgame Ever Become The Highest-Grossing Movie Again?

Avengers Endgame Avatar worldwide box office

The chances of Avengers: Endgame becoming the highest-grossing movie again and passing Avatar for a second time seems unlikely. The $50M gap that currently exists is already substantial, and Avatar's ability to extend its lead during 2022 will only make things more difficult. Instead of continuing to tinker with Avengers: Endgame and re-release it, Marvel Studios is more likely to concede the all-time box office crown to Avatar for now. Their best chance to beat James Cameron now will be with the MCU's next era-defining crossover. That is why Secret Wars is widely believed to be on the horizon for Marvel Studios. If there is any movie that is going to pass Avatar once and for all, a film that features Hugh Jackman's Wolverine, Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man, heroes from other Marvel franchises, variants of dead MCU heroes like Robert Downey Jr.'s Iron Man, the main MCU characters, and more all united together for a multiverse adventure is their best shot to exceed Avengers: Endgame's box office and beat Avatar.

More: Avatar 2 Won't Beat Endgame's Box Office, But Could It Beat No Way Home?

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