It’s been a big weekend for Marvel. They announced a bunch of new films, and discussed their next wave of TV shows at the San Diego Comic-Con, and they also hit a big landmark.
On Sunday morning, while basking in the afterglow of Saturday night’s announcement of new film franchises (Shang-Chi, The Eternals), a big reboot (Blade) and films with familiar characters (Black Widow, Thor, Dr. Strange) they dropped some news that fans and the industry were all expecting: namely, that Avengers: Endgame has passed Avatar as the highest grossing film of all time.
On Sunday, Disney said the film had earned $2.79 billion at the global box office, topping Avatar’s record of $2.7897 billion, according to CNBC.
Avengers: Endgame has been in theaters for just 87 days,while Avatar was in theaters for 234 days during its first run. Fun fact: both films feature Zoe Saldana, who plays Neytiri in Avatar, and Gamora in the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise (and she reprised that role in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. (Her sci-fi resume also includes playing Lt. Uhura in the rebooted Star Trek franchise).
Although both films are Disney properties, they clearly wanted Endgame to topple Avatar; in June. Marvel re-released the film with a special tribute to Stan Lee, a deleted scene from Endgame and a teaser for Spider-Man: Far From Home at the end of the credits.
While there aren’t any new Avengers films announced, Marvel’s next film, Black Widow, is set for a May 1, 2020 release. Avatar 2, meanwhile, is due out on December 17, 2021.