AVENGERS: ENDGAME began its run of total box office domination a year ago yesterday so its only fitting that Disney would look back on the film's very lucrative time in theaters by revealing just how much money they earned on the project when it was all said in done.
Per "Deadline", AVENGERS: ENDGAME earned Disney & Marvel Studios about $900 million in net profit. The film began its unprecedented box office run with a first-ever $1.2 billion worldwide start and $357.1 million domestic opening. These are numbers we may never see again for an opening weekend and it just showed the pent up anticipation that fans had for the film. This start was coming off of Marvel Studios' own record with AVENGERS: INFINTY WAR the year before with global and domestic openings of $640.5 million and $257.7 million.
Eventually AVENGERS: ENDGAME became the highest grossing film of all-time at the global box office. This was aided by a late June re-release but its gross of $2.797 billion allowed the film to finally top James Cameron's AVATAR ($2.79 billion) and gave MARVEL these bragging rights for the foreseeable future. While some feel the AVATAR sequels could attain these lofty numbers and edge its way over ENDGAME, in this new COVID-19 world, I'm not sure we will see massive grosses like this on a global scale for quite awhile.
Breaking down the numbers, AVENGERS: ENDGAME'S first global weekend of $1.2 billion alone covered the film's combined $511 million production and global marketing theatrical costs, which is unheard of in the recent box office climate pre-corona. China delivered a final gross of $614.3 million with 25% of that figure ,or $153.5 million, coming back to Disney. After grossing more than $2.797 billion, Disney saw an estimated $1.18 billion in theatrical rentals. Add in overall worldwide home entertainment and TV streams and revenues climb to $1.789 billion and this doesn't even include merchandising. Even after backend deals for the film's stars, which begins with a massive $55 million for Robert Downey Jr. on top of his upfront $20 million paycheck, net profit climbs to the $900 million figure, 78% higher than the half a billion that Disney made from INFINITY WAR.
Box office moving forward is really going to be interesting to watch moving forward. Once the pandemic eases and moviegoers return to theaters globally, one has to wonder if we will continue to see these kind of staggering numbers again. AVENGERS: ENDGAME felt like a box office rarity last year but in 2020, its run feels even more unattainable. That being said, the film's lucrative box office journey did show that people will go out and spend money on the movies if the product is worth their time. The film really needs to feel like and event and ENDGAME certainly fit that description.
Do YOU think any film will see this kind of box office run in the future?