Avengers: Endgame sinks a long-standing Titanic box office record

You’d better believe I put a terrible pun in that headline.

It’s true, though. As Avengers: Endgame continues to make a boatload of money (I did it again), a major record has fallen. James Cameron’s Titanic has been the second-biggest global box office money maker of all time since 2009 — and it was #1 before that, going all the way back to 1997.

Now it’s in third-place. Weekend estimates for Endgame bring the total global box office for Marvel’s latest up to $2.188 billion, just a hair ahead of Titanic‘s $2.187 billion. And even if the estimate turns out to be off — sometimes these things happen — Titanic‘s long-standing record is doomed.

Endgame hit theaters in the last week of April and this is only its second full weekend in release. The estimate would have to be too high and people would need to simply stop seeing it all together for Titanic‘s second-place record to stand. Even an IRL Thanos snap couldn’t halt that momentum.

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The next, and really final, mountain for Endgame to climb is Avatar. The 2009 sci-fi adventure from James Cameron isn’t remembered with much fondness in 2019 pop culture, but it does hold the distinction of being the biggest worldwide moneymaker of all time at the box office.

The new number for Endgame to beat is $2.788 billion, or $600 million more than it has now. Given the speed of its success so far, there’s every reason to think that Avatar‘s record is toast, and that Endgame is on track to earn the first $3 billion box office in Hollywood history.

Avatar owes much of its success to timing. Cameron built the largely-CG movie from the ground up to look its best in the most cutting edge 3D of that time. The emphasis on 3D meant that a larger proportion of moviegoers than usual bought pricey tickets for the premium viewing experience. That inflated the box office in turn.

It’s also worth mentioning: while it’s true that Avatar hasn’t really lingered in the public consciousness, it was big stuff back in 2009 and 2010. It managed to score an 82% “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes and its audience score is identical. 

There’s a well-documented history of stops and starts on Cameron’s sequel attempts — so much so that it’s become something of a joke — but don’t undervalue the importance of Avatar in Hollywood’s modern past. It’s not the forgotten relic some would make it out to be.

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