Avengers: Endgame has overtaken Avatar to become the highest-grossing movie of all-time at the worldwide box-office, but there’s still a chance that James Cameron’s blockbuster will beat it once again. Avengers: Endgame officially passed Avatar’s box-office total at the weekend, paying off Marvel’s decision to re-release the movie.

Avengers: Endgame’s box-office total now stands at just over $2.791 billion, enough to take it past Avatar’s $2.789 billion haul, which it set in 2010 after it had a re-release of its own. Re-releasing the film in order to beat Avatar was a part of Marvel’s strategy, allowing Avengers: Endgame to claim the title of being the highest-grossing movie ever at the box-office and setting a new record that looks unlikely to be topped anytime soon. Except, that is, if Avatar has anything to say about it.

James Cameron is hard at work on his Avatar sequels, which will begin with Avatar 2 in 2021, and go all the way through to Avatar 5 in 2027. It’s unlikely, although not impossible, that any of the Avatar sequels themselves will manage to beat Avengers: Endgame at the box-office. Avatar was a major hit back in 2009, but that was more because of its groundbreaking technology, and it’s since been reappraised as a film that is great visually but lacking in story. Because of that, it’s difficult to imagine the Avatar sequels having quite the same interest, although they’re hardly going to flop either.

But where the Avtar sequels can play a key role in this box-office battle is with the first Avatar movie, because there’s a very good chance Cameron will want that re-released ahead of Avatar 2 hitting cinemas in 2021. By that time it will have been 12 years since Avatar was first released, and since people may not have revisited the film on DVD or Blu-ray in that time, putting it back in theaters would actually make sense just in terms of setting up Avatar 2.

Cameron is also further pushing the technological advancements he made on the first Avatar with its sequels. Given he has previous with updating his work once new technology becomes available, it’s possible and perhaps even likely that he’ll give Avatar a makeover with the new Avatar 2 & 3 tech, giving another reason to re-release the film.

Avengers: Endgame has only just scraped past Avatar - and is still behind it when adjusted for inflation - and there isn’t going to be another Avengers movie for some time yet, meaning there’ll be no call for a further re-release. That would mean if and when Avatar re-releases in 2021, it wouldn’t need to take much in order to beat Avengers: Endgame and reclaim its title as the highest-grossing movie of all time.

Next: How Avengers: Endgame Managed To Beat Avatar’s “Impossible” Box Office Record

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