Full account

Disney and Marvel’s re-release of Avengers: Endgame returned to the top of the North American box office, taking approximately $26 million from 3,060 cinemas. Its worldwide performance was considerably stronger, adding about $60 million overseas for an $86 million global weekend. The result is unusually substantial for a film that has been available on Disney+ for years, suggesting that the combination of nostalgia, large-format presentation and newly added material still carries considerable appeal. It also lifts Endgame’s lifetime worldwide total to roughly $2.88 billion, keeping it close to Avatar’s record haul.

The re-release was designed partly as a promotional bridge to Avengers: Doomsday, due in December. Reports describe the added material as including a preview of the forthcoming film, while Disney also used the event to promote its Infinity Vision premium-format certification. The international response was especially broad: Endgame opened strongly in markets including China, Britain, Mexico and Italy, and was reported to have led several national charts. The scale of the response has encouraged industry observers to view the rerelease as an effective way of renewing attention in the Marvel brand before its next major chapter.

Among the new films, A24’s Primetime made the most striking impression, beginning with about $19.2 million from 2,863 North American locations. Directed by Lance Oppenheim and starring Robert Pattinson as television presenter Chris Hansen, the crime drama reportedly cost around $15 million, putting it in a potentially favourable commercial position after its first weekend. Its audience was notably young, with almost seven in ten viewers under 30. Reception was more divided, reflected in a B CinemaScore, while Hansen himself has criticised the film as detached from the reality of the events on which it draws. The opening nevertheless represents a significant result for an original, unsettling drama and reinforces Pattinson’s current commercial standing.

The remaining newcomers had less encouraging starts. Paramount’s Brad Pitt vehicle The Heart of the Beast earned around $20 million from 3,435 cinemas, placing it ahead of Primetime in the domestic rankings in one account, although its estimated $82 million production cost makes a sustained run important. Universal and DreamWorks Animation’s Forgotten Island also struggled to convert favourable reviews into a substantial opening. The reports therefore frame the weekend in contrasting ways: Endgame’s figures are presented as both a rare re-release triumph and a marketing success, Primetime’s as evidence of star power and youth appeal, and the other launches as films that must depend on word of mouth and overseas business to justify their budgets.

Where outlets differ

The reports agree on the main figures for Endgame and Primetime but differ in emphasis and some rankings. One account presents Endgame as the clear domestic leader and describes Primetime as A24’s third-biggest opening, while another focuses more heavily on the film’s approach to Avatar’s worldwide record and its premium-format strategy. The third report supplies the most detailed international breakdown, including Imax revenue and market-by-market openings, and notes that the $26 million domestic result ranks behind earlier rereleases of Star Wars and The Lion King 3D. The treatment of The Heart of the Beast also varies: one source places it third domestically ahead of Primetime, whereas the others provide less emphasis on the precise domestic order. Figures for Endgame’s accumulated worldwide total likewise vary slightly, at approximately $2.88 billion to $2.885 billion, reflecting rounding.

• variety.com
• variety.com
• deadline.com