In the battle between top-grossing films worldwide, it looks like Avatar will officially be taking back the crown. Deadline reports that the James Cameron-directed sci-fi movie has recovered the number one spot over Avengers: Endgame, thanks to a recent re-release of the 2009 film in China this past Friday. This replay in theaters led to Avatar earning an estimated RMB 58 million ($8.9 million) through 5 p.m. local time on Saturday, more than enough than the $7.4 million it reportedly needed to overtake Endgame.
Currently, Avatar stands at an estimated global box office total of $2,798,579,794 against Endgame's $2,797,501,328. That gap is only expected to widen as the film remains in theaters, especially given that Avatar also leads the rest of the pack in ticket pre-sales up through Tuesday.
Marvel Studios took their loss in stride, acknowledging the news via an official tweet to Cameron, producer Jon Landau, and "ALL of Na'Vi Nation" alongside a quote that MCU fans will undoubtedly recognize from one of the franchise's most beloved characters, Tony Stark. Considering Disney technically owns both films, however, there's something amusingly self-congratulatory about the whole thing. Endgame directors Joe and Anthony Russo also acknowledged Avatar's box office win with a congratulatory tweet featuring new artwork for BossLogic.
Chances are if Endgame sees its own re-release in the years to come, the title of top-grossing movie could change hands again — but for now, it seems as though a lot of Avatar fans are whetting their appetite for those distant sequels by revisiting an old favorite. Presently, Disney plans to roll out a total of four more Avatar movies through Cameron, with Avatar 2 slated for release on December 16, 2022, followed by Avatar 3 on December 20, 2024. Additional sequels are planned for December 18, 2026 and December 22, 2028.