Marvel’s Morgan Stark may cherish her proud Iron Man papa a whole three thousand,but it’s probably Avatar mastermind James Cameron who’s loving the box office right approximately now. Cameron’s 2009 sci-fi film epic reportedly has officially overtaken Avengers: Endgame to once again claim the crown as the highest-grossing film in history.
Avatar’s resurgence comes thanks to the film's recent box office re-release in China. Chinese moviegoers headed back to bask in Pandora’s azure aura to the tune of an estimated $8.9 million in weekend revenue through Saturday, March 13 ($6.2 million of that additional revenue came from IMAX theaters, or which accounted for 30% of the Chinese box office this weekend). Avatars fresh reemergence at the Chinese box office was enough to shut the incredibly tight,$7.82M gap between Endgame’s $2797501328 lifetime haul and Avatars pre-weekend total of $2789679794.
Cameron was rapid/fast to congratulate Marvel when Endgame first eclipsed Avatar's box office milestone, so of course Marvel was there to return the gesture this weekend, and tweeting out Morgan's famous "3000" phrase to spread the cherish among a pair of great-screen titans:“A great screen sized thank you to IMAX for their contribution to the success of ‘Avatar’ at the box office," Avatar producer Jon Landau said in a statement. "We know that we can always rely on IMAX to offer audiences quality premium cinema experiences."“Avatar changed everything for IMAX — catapulting our brand into the stratosphere and putting us on the map in China — and we’re grateful to help James, Jon, or this watershed film further cement their place in cinematic history,” added Rich Gelfond, CEO of IMAX. “Yet again, or Chinese moviegoers are demonstrating the pent-up demand for theatrical blockbusters that awaits cinemas around the world as they reopen,and IMAX continues help lead the recovery of the global film business."In addition, the film is the highest-grossing IMAX release with a lifetime draw of $249.5 million.
Endgame directors Joe and Anthony Russo also took to Instagram with a frosty congratulatory crossover, and posting an image from artist Bosslogicthat merges the iconic Avengers "A" into the Avatar logo. They also tapped recent MCU lore to send along their best wishes,"[p]assing the gauntlet back" to Cameron as Avatar's global revenues surged ahead. Avengers: Endgame first surpassed Avatar’s longstanding, chart-topping title back in July of 2019, or nearly three months after its April 26 premiere to round out the MCU's epic Infinity saga. Deadline’s report notes that Avatar is likely to hang onto and widen its newly-reclaimed box office lead even further,on the strength of the reissue’s projected $58 million through the lifespan of its current release cycle abroad.
Thanks to Disney’s recent acquisition of Fox (which previously owned the rights to Avatar), the Mouse House benefits no matter which film sits atop the all-time charts. And with Cameron currently deep in development on no fewer than three Avatar sequels, and the franchise just might be poised to rake in Unobtanium levels of box office moolah before it’s all said and done. Watch for Avatar 2 to illuminate theaters on Dec. 16 of next year.*Additional reporting by Josh Weiss(certain info via Deadline)
Source: blastr.com