Seven years after its initial release, Avengers: Endgame headed back to theaters as the expanded Avengers: Endgame Encore, with four scenes added to the end of the movie to better set up Avengers: Doomsday. Although there were some concerns and even frustrations with the idea that Endgame needed to be changed in order for Doomsday to truly work, ultimately, it seems curiosity won out for plenty of fans. Following its release on September 25, there was actually considerable interest and online chatter, especially regarding what the added scenes meant for this next installment in the MCU (which, unfortunately, came with the confirmation that beloved character Steve Rogers is responsible for causing Doomsday).
However, it seems the appeal may have primarily been seeing what those additional scenes were, rather than an interest purely in seeing the movie on the big screen again, for many viewers—which, frankly, is perhaps yet another reason why Disney and Marvel decided to do it this way—as just one week later, Endgame Encore’s box office numbers have reportedly already dropped by 90%. As shared on X by Luiz Fernando, Endgame Encore grossed $1.1 million yesterday, its second Friday at the box office, which is a 90% drop from last Friday’s numbers. As a point of comparison, Fernando highlighted the difference between this drop and that of The Lion King’s re-release, which, according to Fernando, was only a 31.9% drop between the first and second week. Even with that in mind, though, this drop likely isn’t a sign of something disastrous for Endgame Encore or the larger MCU.
Although that $1.1 million from yesterday likely reflects that some fans genuinely are just interested in watching Endgame in theaters again, the massive drop in box office numbers for Endgame Encore isn’t all that surprising. Pretty quickly after the movie’s release (and actually, thanks to leaks online, even earlier), descriptions of the added scenes were being circulated. Marvel itself had positioned these added scenes as the driving force behind Endgame Encore, and it was curiosity over that specific reveal that got many audience members to head to the theater. Once those scenes were easily available to access online, that was going to mean a massive ding to the number of people checking out Encore in the theater. After all, outside of those additions, Endgame is still available at home for anyone with Disney+.
There therefore really shouldn’t be too much read into this update to Encore’s box office performance. If anything, it proves that Marvel/Disney’s strategy of getting viewers interested by including new, exclusive footage in the rerelease worked. It also, at the very least, got MCU fans talking and theorizing all the more ahead of Doomsday, which is exactly what a franchise like the MCU needs.
Are you concerned about this box office outcome? Share your thoughts in the comments.
