This article contains spoilers for Avengers: Endgame – Encore. The Avengers are making waves at the theater again—just maybe not in the way that you’re thinking. As Doomsday looms, an extended version of Avengers: Endgame has been rereleased in theaters, bringing in an impressive $26 million domestically and making it the third-highest rerelease in box office history. Some online sources claim it’s the second-highest, but that honor actually belongs to The Lion King 3D, which earned $30.1 million upon its rerelease in theaters. As it stands, the Top 5 rereleases are currently Star Wars with $35.9 million, The Lion King with $30.1 million, Avengers: Endgame – Encore with $26 million, Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith with $25.4 million, and Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace with $22.4 million.
Endgame has endured as one of the biggest box office hits of all time, pulling in a whopping $2.79 billion globally. And as rereleases go, it’s obviously impressive that a movie that’s been available to stream for years was able to debut in 3,060 North American theaters and easily crack the Top 5 in just a few days. It’s also a pretty genius marketing ploy in the run-up to Avengers: Doomsday, which might even go on to outpace Endgame in terms of box office sales—a feat that Spider-Man: Brand New Day nearly accomplished during the beginning of its theatrical run.
The ‘AVENGERS: ENDGAME’ re-release opened with $26M domestically.
Second biggest opening weekend for a re-release in history. pic.twitter.com/IzKtBMp4cD
And as part of this rerelease, Marvel has chosen to tweak a few existing bits of lore, officially making Endgame a direct tie-in to the events taking place in Doomsday. New scenes also reveal never-before-seen details. And while the reception to those newly added scenes is generally lukewarm, they don’t seem to be keeping people from purchasing tickets in hopes of making connections to Doomsday as they finish the necessary rewatch before its theatrical release in December. The biggest scene that fans are railing against? Steve Rogers’ happy ending, which leads to the death of millions of people when he breaks the multiverse to spend the rest of his life with Peggy Carter (but is that really worse than Rhodey being a Skrull?).
Avengers: Doomsday is set to hit theaters on December 18th and, much like Captain America broke the multiverse, will surely break the box office with the sheer number of people hoping to see it on opening weekend—even if the new connections it makes undo some of the most poignant parts of Endgame. But where there are superheroes, the audience follows, and Doomsday is doing its best to deliver emotional impact.
Everyone has big opinions about Endgame – Encore in the run-up to Doomsday. Tell us yours (the good, the bad, and the ugly) in the comments.
