Re-released Avengers: Endgame snaps up North American box office lead

Avengers: Endgame dusted competitors in the North American weekend box office, as the 2019 super hero film was re-released in a bid to drum up support for the franchise.

The film holds the title of the second-highest grossing film ever, after earning US$2.8 billion, driven by an ensemble cast including Robert Downey Jr, Josh Brolin and Scarlett Johansson.

Over the weekend, the encore presentation of the Walt Disney film took in US$26 million (S$33 million) in North America, for a global total of US$86 million, according to estimates by Exhibitor Relations, a tracking firm.

The re-release comes ahead of the planned Dec 18 debut of Avenger: Doomsday, with audiences eager to see four new post-credit scenes setting up the forthcoming film.

"As a marketing exercise, it’s an effective way to build early word-of-mouth," said veteran industry watcher David A Gross.

Taking second place was Sony's Resident Evil, with an estimated US$23.3 million in North America, for a global total over its first two weeks of over US$196 million. 

Heart Of The Beast, starring Brad Pitt as a former soldier and his loyal but traumatised combat dog as they survive in the Alaskan wilderness, brought in an estimated US$20 million on the continent for Paramount on its opening weekend.

Also debuting over the weekend was Primetime, starring Robert Pattinson as reality TV host Chris Hansen. The film is based on a real-life US show from the mid-2000s called To Catch A Predator in which Hansen and his production staff lured would-be pedophiles into sting operations where police were waiting to make on-screen arrests.

The film brought in an estimated US$19.2 million for A24 over the weekend.

Forgotten Island an animated family film, however, underperformed over the weekend, bringing in just US$12.8 million for Universal on its opening weekend.

"This is a weak opening for an original animation film from one of the major labels," Gross said, while noting that reviews were overwhelmingly positive.

Gross expects the film to do well overseas, which should stem some of the losses.