‘Avengers: Endgame Encore’ Scores Massive $86 Million Globally, Brad Pitt’s ‘Heart of the Beast’ Launches to $50 Million Worldwide

“Avengers: Endgame” returned to theaters and assembled a massive $86 million globally, including $26 million in North America and $60 million overseas.

Disney and Marvel’s 2019 blockbuster was already the second-highest grossing movie in box office history with $2.79 billion; this weekend’s haul brings the movie’s staggering tally to $2.88 billion. It’s only $39 million behind 2009’s “Avatar,” which is the biggest worldwide release of all time with $2.9 billion.

Disney and Marvel reissued “Avengers: Endgame” to stoke excitement for “Avengers: Doomsday,” which opens in December. The upcoming comic book tentpole, which reunites just about every superhero on this planet (and others) and reintroduces Robert Downey Jr. not as Iron Man but as the villain Doctor Doom, is expected to be one of the biggest movies of the year. This re-released offered new footage as well as a chance to introduce viewers to the studio’s new take on premium large formats called “Infinity Vision.” It’s not a new technology but rather a “certification” that guarantees movie theaters will “meet rigorous technical standards,” per Disney. (As a note, “Avengers: Doomsday” won’t have access to Imax, the most ubiquitous of the PLFs, because “Dune: Part III” debuts on the same day and has the entire Imax footprint exclusively for three weeks.)

“Bringing ‘Avengers: Endgame’ back to theaters with an exclusive look at ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ is a smart way to give audiences a reason to revisit the film on the big screen and build excitement for what comes next,” says Rentrack’s head of marketplace trends Paul Dergarabedian. “‘Avengers: Doomsday’ is poised for one of the biggest opening weekend performances of all-time.”

Directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, “Avengers: Doomsday” will be the 39th installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It’s the most successful film franchise in history with $35.07 billion across all movies, a benchmark that was recently lifted by this summer’s juggernaut “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” with $2.2 billion.

“Avengers: Endgame Encore,” which the re-release has been dubbed, beat out several new releases to top domestic and global box office charts. Including this weekend’s grosses, “Endgame” strengthened its position as the third-largest North American release of all time with $884 million. Meanwhile in a new milestone, “Avengers: Endgame” became the second movie ever to clear $2 billion at the international box office.