Just over a month ago, Avengers: Endgame fans conceded defeat to James Cameron’s 2009 Avatar, acknowledging it would remain the biggest movie of all time. Last night at San Diego Comic-Con, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige announced that’s no longer true.

Endgame, the culmination of a 22-movie arc started by Marvel in 2008, will officially surpass Avatar as the highest grossing movie of all time either today or tomorrow. There is an approximate $500,000 difference between Endgame and Avatar, which analysts predict will close within a day. It’s why Feige could make the announcement he did at Comic-Con.

“Thanks to you, Avengers: Endgame is the biggest film of all-time,” Feige said on stage.

Disney and Marvel Studios have been gunning for the top spot, which has been held by Cameron and 20th Century Fox (now a Disney property) for a decade. The company released a different version of Endgame in theaters on June 28th to help draw in audiences once again, promising a deleted scene (one that underwhelmed fans), a Stan Lee tribute, and an official post-credits scene. Disney and Marvel essentially sold theatergoers extras that would usually appear on the Blu-ray release, in the hope that that would be enough to drive people back into the theater one more time to put the film over the edge.

“Thanks to you, Avengers: Endgame is the biggest film of all-time.”

“At that time, Endgame was $37M from toppling Avatar, and many — both Disney insiders and rival distribution sources — didn’t believe the re-release would put the superhero pic over the top; Endgame‘s foreign territories outside China and the U.S. were quite short when compared to those of Avatar,” Deadline’s Anthony D’Alessandro wrote.

Most of the $37 million is believed to have come from offshore markets, according to Deadline, but there was a real campaign in the US to make Endgame the biggest movie of all time. (Endgame is the top movie now, but that could change due to inflation.) People on popular Marvel subreddits were organizing watch parties and encouraging their friends to go out and buy another ticket. In 2010, Den of Geek’s Simon Brew noted that fans were forced to care about box office numbers — something that up until semi-recently was largely a conversation among trades, analysts, and people who made the actual thing — because box office success translated to continuation. That’s not true with Endgame, though.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is already too big for Disney to suddenly worry about whether Endgame is the biggest movie of all time or the second. This isn’t a suffering independent film. Marvel’s time at Hall H last night was a reminder that, over the next three years, Disney’s superhero division is set to dominate both theatrical and streaming worlds. The message that Feige sent was simple: We own it all. Why bother competing? In many ways, it’s similar to the message Disney sent in its open and shameless attempt to surpass Avatar. It’s not success driven by shareholder concerns; Endgame already did what it was supposed to. This was success driven by ego. The brilliant move was looping in fans to make it seem like their success.

“At that time, Endgame was $37M from toppling Avatar, and many — both Disney insiders and rival distribution sources — didn’t believe the re-release would put the superhero pic over the top.”

“A huge congratulations to the Marvel Studios and Walt Disney Studios teams, and thank you to the fans around the world who lifted Avengers: Endgame to these historic heights,” Disney chairman Alan Horn added in a statement to Deadline.

Endgame became more than a singular movie because Marvel Studios, which leans on making fans feel like their part-time investors in the franchise, made it feel like more than just a franchise film to fans. Marvel Studios is about to do the same thing with Disney+, Disney’s upcoming streaming service. Fans will spend $7 a month to keep up with their favorite superheroes, and an additional $15 at the movie theater — not one, not twice, but several times. Endgame became a new stepping point for Marvel. They couldn’t just be good, they had to be the best. They couldn’t just win, they had to dominate.

“The Marvel fans’ desire to unseat Avatar as the top grossing film of all time is ultimately an attempt to help one of the largest corporations on this planet squeeze more money from fans and provide more value for stockholders,” Cameron Kunzelman wrote at Polygon. “It is an endeavor to strengthen a titan of entertainment that is already so swollen and dominant that some are calling for it to be broken up.”

Disney nor Marvel Studios are being broken up. They’re only getting bigger. And, as Feige basically pointed out at Comic-Con, it’s up to fans to help them stay that way. </s> Well, it’s finally happened after months of trying, and a cheeky re-release, Avengers: Endgame has officially become the highest-grossing movie ever.

The news is sure to delight Marvel-heads around the world who have been desperate for Endgame to unseat Avatar from the top of the box-office ever since it was released earlier this year.

Of course, it’s worth noting that as Disney bought Fox they now own the Avatar properties as well, so they’re technically in competition with themselves…

But while the studio wins either way, so too do the Avengers have final victory over those blue, jungle-dwelling creatures.

Disney and Marvel recently revealed the new global intake for Avengers: Endgame was $2.7892 billion in raw grosses, which is $500,000 more than the James Cameron’s Avatar, which was released in 2009.

Disney added they expect an additional half a million dollars for Avengers to roll in by tomorrow, July 22, too.

It’s an impressive feat for Endgame to unseat Avatar, which has been sitting pretty at the top of the Box Office for the past ten years. However, thanks to a slight re-release around the July 4 weekend (which put the film back in 2,000 theatres), the totting up of overseas grosses, a huge over-performance in China, and 10 years of hard work by Marvel, Endgame finally did it.

Marvel and Disney announced the inevitable news at, you guessed it, this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, as Forbes reports.

It was a safe bet Endgame would take the title – the film had a $1.223 billion opening weekend, and sailed past Titanic (yup) in less than two weeks.

Endgame earned around $629 million in China alone, a whopping 75 per cent jump up from its predecessor Infinity War. Had the Marvel movie only taken the ‘average’ 29 per cent of its grosses from China, it probably wouldn’t have surpassed Cameron’s epic.

And while, if you take domestic inflation into account, Avatar sold more tickets in North America than Endgame, it seems the Box Office figures speak for themselves. Cameron certainly has his work cut out for Avatar 2.

If you have a story you want to tell, send it to [email protected] </s> Disney and Marvel studios are currently celebrating after announcing at Comic-con that Avengers: Endgame has officially passed James Cameron’s 2009 movie Avatar to become the top-grossing film of all-time at the worldwide box office, not adjusted for inflation.

Marvel chief Kevin Feige announced the milestone on stage at Comic-Con late Saturday afternoon in San Diego.

“A huge congratulations to the Marvel Studios and Walt Disney Studios teams, and thank you to the fans around the world who lifted Avengers: Endgame to these historic heights,” Disney Studios co-chairman and chief creative officer Alan Horn said in a statement.

A of Friday, Avengers: Endgame’s global gross was $2,789.2 billion, just $500,000 behind Avatar’s $2,789.7 billion (R39 billion) with the gap expected to be overcome once weekend box office grosses are tallied. The target should be reached comfortably as last weekend Endgame brought in $2.8 million globally.

Avengers: Endgame had already shattered the record for the biggest global opening of all time with $1.22 billion (R16.7 billion) in the first weekend.

The film is the fourth outing in the blockbuster Avengers series and the 22nd film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. </s> Thanos would say it was… inevitable.

Marvel’s superhero epic Avengers: Endgame is set to unseat James Cameron’s sci-fi smash Avatar as the highest-grossing film ever at the worldwide box office, Disney announced Saturday. As of Friday, Endgame’s global haul clocked in at $2,789,200,000, just $500,000 short of Avatar’s $2,789,700,000, and it should close the gap by Sunday.

Directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, Endgame has been in theaters for 13 weeks and has been a box office juggernaut. Last month, Disney re-released the movie with additional footage to get it over the hump. (Avatar, which was first released in 2009, has also been reissued in various territories over the years.)

Alan Horn, co-chairman and chief creative officer of the Walt Disney Studios, said in a statement, “A huge congratulations to the Marvel Studios and Walt Disney Studios teams, and thank you to the fans around the world who lifted Avengers: Endgame to these historic heights. Of course, even with the passage of a decade, the impact of James Cameron’s Avatar remains as powerful as ever, and the astonishing achievements of both of these films are ongoing proof of the power of movies to move people and bring them together in a shared experience. The talented filmmakers behind these worlds have much more in store, and we look forward to the future of both the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Pandora.”

Once Endgame passes Avatar, which was first released in 2009, Cameron will still lay claim to the No. 2 and No. 3 films of all time, the latter being 1997’s Titanic, with $2,187,500,000.

Disney, meanwhile, now controls the Avatar franchise since acquiring Fox’s film and TV assets in a huge deal earlier this year. Cameron is working on four Avatar sequels.

As for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Endgame marked the end of an era, but Marvel Studios began unveiling plans for the future of the franchise at San Diego Comic-Con on Saturday. Upcoming movies include The Eternals and Shang-Chi.
• Avengers: Endgame directors really wanted Thanos to cut off Captain America’s head
• Marvel introduces The Eternals at Comic-Con with Angelina Jolie, Richard Madden, and more </s> Disney’s latest Avengers film has smashed box-office records on its opening weekend taking $1.2bn (£1bn) and is on track to overtake Avatar as the highest-grossing film of all time.

Avengers: Endgame took a record $350m in the world’s biggest movie market, North America, smashed records for a foreign film in China, and grossed more than any other film on its opening weekend globally.

The star-studded film is the first to take more than $1bn on its debut. Avatar, released in 2009, currently holds the record for highest-grossing film with $2.79bn worldwide. At the very least, Avengers: Endgame will almost certainly surpass Titanic, the 1997 blockbuster starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, which ranks as the second biggest film of all time, taking $2.19bn globally.

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The success of the film is a timely reminder that Disney’s upcoming streaming service, Disney+, has the content firepower to challenge global market leader Netflix despite its late entry. Avengers: Endgame is one of many golden properties that will debut exclusively on the service, which launches later this year, before being released elsewhere. Disney has already pulled all of its content from Netflix in the US, ahead of a likely global pullout, costing the company hundreds of millions of dollars in licensing revenue in order to make its service a must-buy. In the US, subscriptions to Disney+ will be priced at $6.99 a month, just over half the monthly cost of Netflix, with a global rollout beginning next year.

The success of Avengers: Endgame is the culmination of 21 films in the Marvel superhero universe that started with Robert Downey Jr’s Iron Man in 2008. Disney acquired Marvel in 2009 for $4bn, an acquisition criticised at the time as too highly priced, given that Marvel had licensed off a number of its then-major franchises, such as Spider-Man and X-Men, when the company was cash-strapped in the 1990s.

The success of the film is a reminder that movie-going remains hugely important, even in the much-hyped on-demand era, with the UK last year enjoying its best cinema attendance since 1971. </s> Marvel Studios' "Avengers: Endgame," is set to pass James Cameron's "Avatar" in box office sales, making the film the highest grossing film in cinema history, Disney announced on Saturday night.



The film has made $2.7982 billion at the box office and is currently only $500,000 behind the Cameron box office mega-hit. Disney expects the film to surpass the film's $2.7987 billion box office sales on Sunday.
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Ten days after "Endgame" was released on April 26, the film surpassed James Cameron's "Titanic" to become the second-highest grossing film on record.

Many people, including Disney, were reluctant that the film could top "Avatar," even after the company re-released the film on June 28 with a new deleted scene, Stan Lee tribute, and a post-credits scene. At the time of the film's re-release, it was $37 million behind "Avatar."

“Thanks to you, 'Avengers: Endgame' is the biggest film of all-time,” Kevn Feige, Marvel Studios president, said on stage at Comic-Con in San Diego on Saturday night.

"Avatar" held the record for highest grossing film for almost 10 years after its release on Dec. 18, 2009. The top five highest grossing films now include "Avengers: Endgame" in the top spot, followed by James Cameron's "Avatar" and Titanic" in the second and third spot, J.J. Abram's "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" sits at no. 4, while "Avengers: Infinity War" stays at no. 5.



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 Have a news tip? Let us know. </s> Avengers: Endgame has surpassed Avatar to become the highest-grossing movie of all time, without adjusting for inflation.

Marvel chief Kevin Feige and his team announced the milestone late Saturday afternoon on stage at Comic-Con in San Diego

James Cameron´s Avatar set the record with a $2.788 billion haul in 2009.

Released in April, Avengers remained in some 1,400 U.S. theaters over the weekend.

The movie was re-released in June with an additional six minutes of footage in a bid to top Avatar's record.

Adjusted for inflation, the highest grossing movie of all time remains 1939's Gone With The Wind, which took in the equivalent of roughly $3.5 billion in today's dollars.

On Friday, Avengers: Endgame directors Joe and Anthony Russo it would be a "big thrill" to pass the all-time box office record held by "Avatar."

"James Cameron has always been an idol of ours -- he fed our passion for filmmaking from the beginning, and to be so close to one of his great films is really special," said Anthony at San Diego Comic-Con, the world's largest pop culture convention.

"By the way has, anyone not seen 'Endgame?'" Joe Russo asked, as the crowd of 8,000 laughed. "If not you should leave now."

As Feige took the stage at Comic-Con, many expected him to announce plans for the next phase of Marvel films.

However, details of what exactly will happen and who might appear at this point are being more closely guarded than one of the series' infinity stones. </s> New York (CNN Business) "Avengers: Endgame," the Disney and Marvel blockbuster, will move past "Avatar" on the list of all-time highest grossing films on Sunday in its 13th weekend of release, Disney reported Saturday night.

"Avatar," James Cameron's science fiction film set on the planet of Pandora, held the record for 10 years.

The latest " Avengers " film, starring Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans, has made more than $2.789 billion worldwide.

"A huge congratulations to the Marvel Studios and Walt Disney Studios teams, and thank you to the fans around the world who lifted 'Avengers: Endgame' to these historic heights," Alan Horn, co-chairman and chief creative officer of The Walt Disney Studios, said in a statement.

To get to the top spot, "Endgame" passed some of the biggest blockbusters in film history such as "Titanic," "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" and its predecessor, "Avengers: Infinity War."

"'Endgame' has cemented the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a cornerstone of modern mythos that will be passed down to generations of fans," Shawn Robbins, chief analyst at Boxoffice.com , told CNN Business. "That would have been true regardless of its monetary position relative to 'Avatar.'"

Robbins added that the title of highest-grossing film of all time is "the cherry on top for Marvel's first decade."

"Never before had audiences experienced an episodic, cinematic journey over the span of 11 years," Robbins added. "It's nearly impossible to predict something like that, just as 'Avatar's' own run was widely unexpected. In a way, they share that common bond."

"Endgame" shattered records when it opened in late April.

The superhero film, which had the Avengers take on the villainous Thanos, made $1.2 billion at the worldwide box office for its global opening. It took just five days for the film to cross $1 billion at the box office.

Disney DIS acquired the "Avatar" franchise when it completed its $71 billion purchase of most of 21st Century Fox's assets earlier this year.

The space series will have a chance to take back its box office crown from "Endgame." Disney is planning four "Avatar" sequels between 2021 and 2027.

"Even with the passage of a decade, the impact of James Cameron's 'Avatar' remains as powerful as ever," Horn added. "The talented filmmakers behind these worlds have much more in store, and we look forward to the future of both the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Pandora." </s> What just happened? Avengers: Endgame has become the first film in history to surpass $1 billion in its opening weekend and could dethrone Avatar as the highest-grossing film of all time. Were you able to see it this weekend?

Disney on Sunday said the Marvel Studios film generated an estimated $350 million domestically and $859 million internationally although as of writing, Variety is reporting $356 million in North America and $866 million overseas. Final numbers from Disney are expected later today.

Avatar, by comparison, needed 19 days to cross the $1 billion mark and was the only film of 2009 to do so. In its total box office run, the movie managed to gross nearly $2.8 billion. Avengers: Infinity War, the previous record holder, reached $1 billion in earnings in 11 days.

Marvel is now responsible for the two biggest box office launches ever with Infinity War and Endgame.

The film’s performance next weekend should go a long way in forecasting whether or not it’ll be able to trump Avatar as the highest-grossing box office hit ever. I’ve spoken to at least one person that was unable to get tickets this past weekend and according to Comscore’s PostTrak survey, nearly 30 percent of those who already saw the film in North America expressed a desire to see it in theaters again.

Lead image courtesy Tyler Olson via Shutterstock. Second photo via Getty Images.
The Walt Disney Company reports that Avengers: Endgame has surpassed Avatar as the highest grossing movie of all time, unadjusted for inflation.