Box Office Battle: Avatar (2010) vs. Avengers: Endgame (2019)
Over the past few years, people have wondered as to whether or not Avengers: Endgame (2019) would be successful in overtaking Avatar (2010) as the king of the box office. Lo-and-behold, it was… but how close was it? Prior to the release of Avengers: Endgame, its predecessor, Avengers: Infinity War, was predicted to beat Avatar. However, it did not. So when Avengers: Infinity War was released, people were positive that that would be the film to beat Avatar. I’ve always found films, and the competition between them, interesting, which is why I am basing my future career around it.
During the films theatrical run of 48 months, Avatar made $760,477,635. This is an abnormally large run for a movie, however, Avatar was considered such a film marvel, that it stayed for more than twice the length that a normal film would. When Avatar was first released, there was no other film like it. Whether it be the story or the intense, groundbreaking CGI graphics, people were stunned by the film.
However, during Avengers: Endgame’s theatrical run, of only 20 weeks, it made $858,373,000. Leading up to this cataclysmic film is more than forty hours of superhero fun — or nineteen movies. More than a decade of story had been building up to this movie, and when it’s predecessor, Avengers: Infinity War, ended in a heartbreaking cliffhanger, it was clear that Avengers: Endgame was going to pull no punches. The story of this film had been built up within each of its previous movies, and it was time to finally see how the story would end — and the world was ready.
As could be seen within the charts, that includes data from The-Numbers.com, it was clear from the beginning, Avengers: Endgame came at Avatar the night of its release with a massive punch. Within Avatar’s first few weekends, it only made $137,094,051. However, during Avengers: Endgame’s opening weekends, it made $473,894,638. Endgame had nearly a four times larger opening than Avatar. However, Avatar still had one more trick up its sleeve — a special extended theatrical run. Due to this, Avengers: Endgame was actually unsuccessful in beating Avatar within its initial theater theater run. Several weeks after exiting most theaters throughout the US, Avengers: Endgame re-entered theaters for one final push, and finally took its place as king of the box office.
So this begs the question: will any film ever be able to beat Avengers: Endgame? With more than a decade of build up, and nineteen movies leading up to it, is it possible for any film to beat it? It seems these days, with the build up of streaming services, and the intense amount of reboots that are released, it is apparent that the film industry is lacking in original ideas. Almost everything that comes out these days is a sequel or a reboot, and quite frankly, people are starting to get tired of it. In a time where most people would rather wait for it to be added to Netflix, it is highly unlikely that any film, at least in the foreseeable future, will be able to overtake Avengers: Endgame.
