Bad luck, Avengers - Avatar is still the biggest box office blockbuster ever

Avengers: Endgame was one of the biggest cinematic events of recent years. Hundreds of hours of screen time and plot lines all neatly brought together in one film – it’s no wonder it did so well, really. But despite an amazing box office performance, it isn't the top grossing film of all time – that…

Bad luck, Avengers - Avatar is still the biggest box office blockbuster ever

Avengers: Endgame was one of the biggest cinematic events of recent years. Hundreds of hours of screen time and plot lines all neatly brought together in one film – it’s no wonder it did so well, really.

But despite an amazing box office performance, it isn't the top grossing film of all time – that still honour belongs to Avatar.

Disney may have hoped that after a recent re-release of the film in cinemas, Avengers will have won out. The re-release, according to CNET, was allegedly a tie-in with the new Spider-Man film. But beating those pesky blue aliens was probably something to do with it too.

Anyway, bad news: it didn’t work.

Post re-release, Avengers made $2.6 billion, after an extra $7.8 million picked up over re-release weekend. But Avatar made $2.78 billion – leaving the poor Avengers $27 million short.

It’s hardly sad news, though – Disney owns Fox, which produced Avatar. Pretty much the definition of a win-win, really.

Fancy catching up on all those Marvel classics you missed? Here’s our pick of the best Marvel movies.

Emily Reynolds
Contributor

Emily Reynolds is a freelance journalist and author specialising in mental health, tech, science and gender. Emily has also written about music, dating, TV and pretty much anything else you can think of. Emily worked at WIRED for a year, writing news and features and appearing on the weekly podcast, and regularly writes for the Guardian, NY Mag, the Observer, New Statesman, the BBC and more.