UPDATE 2: It happened: Endgame has passed Avatar as the biggest movie of all time.
UPDATE: Sony is following Encore with a Spider-Man: Brand New Day re-release featuring new footage.
Avengers: Endgame is the #1 movie in America again, seven years later.
Avengers: Endgame Encore opened to $26 million domestically over the weekend and added $60 million overseas for an $86 million worldwide start.
That’s the finish the projections called for, with Resident Evil holding second in its sophomore weekend.
Details below.
The Second-Biggest Re-Release Weekend Worldwide
The global number is the second-biggest worldwide weekend ever for a re-release, behind only the 2012 Titanic 3D reissue.
Domestically, the start ranks third all time for a re-release, topping last year’s Revenge of the Sith re-issue, which opened to $25.4 million.
Deadline notes only the 1997 Star Wars re-release at $35.9 million and 2011’s The Lion King 3D at $30.2 million opened higher.
Overseas, Encore opened at #1 in China with $13.5 million and topped the charts across most major markets.
The weekend pushes Endgame‘s lifetime worldwide total to $2.885 billion, sitting just behind Avatar‘s $2.92 billion all-time record. A strong Encore run puts that record within reach.
Disney’s global distribution chief Andrew Cripps said, “The success of the re-release reiterates that there’s a massive fanbase for this franchise, and the fact that it’s a 7-year-old movie on Disney+, it’s an incredible opening.”
Box office analyst David A. Gross puts the number in context, telling Variety, “Re-releases rarely earn more than $10 million.”
Gross added the re-release works “to build early word-of-mouth” ahead of Doomsday.
Six Minutes Of Doomsday Footage Did The Selling
IMAX and Infinity Vision screens combined for 60 percent of the weekend take, per Deadline.
The outlet also corrected the footage math. The IMAX and Infinity Vision version carries six minutes and 17 seconds of new material, while standard screenings run two minutes and six seconds of it.
What’s in the new scenes is detailed in our breakdown.
Audiences liked what they paid for. Encore scored 91 percent positive on PostTrak with an 81 percent definite recommend, and the crowd skewed young, with 18 to 34 making up two-thirds of ticket buyers.
Fans paid theater prices for a movie sitting on their shelves because the Doomsday footage only plays on the big screen.
Avengers: Doomsday opens in theaters December 18.
Follow all of our coverage at the Avengers: Doomsday hub.
