"Avengers: Endgame" returned to theaters this weekend under a new name - "Avengers: Endgame Encore" - and early numbers suggest fans showed up. The re-release brought in $3.8 million in Thursday preview screenings, according to The Hollywood Reporter, as the film opened alongside a crowded late-September slate of new and returning titles.
The re-release isn't just a straight rerun. Marvel added roughly four minutes of new footage to the 2019 original, including a custom introduction, updated color grading on select scenes, and a new post-credits tag connecting the film directly to "Avengers: Doomsday," arriving in theaters December 18. The film's trailer alone pulled in 77 million views in its first 24 hours - more than four times the previous record for any re-release trailer, according to Deadline.
The timing is deliberate. Directors Joe and Anthony Russo, who also helm "Doomsday," have called "Endgame Encore" a "critical companion story" to the next chapter, using the re-release as a bridge between the Infinity Saga's ending and the Multiverse Saga's next major event. Robert Downey Jr., who closed out "Endgame" as Iron Man, returns in "Doomsday" in a very different role: Victor Von Doom.
Whether "Endgame" reclaims its spot as the highest-grossing film of all time - a title it briefly held before "Avatar" reclaimed it - will depend on how the rest of the weekend and the film's extended run play out; final numbers typically aren't confirmed until early next week.
For longtime fans, though, the appeal isn't really about box office records. It's a rare chance to sit in a packed theater again for a story that meant something to a lot of people the first time around - nostalgia doesn't need a spreadsheet to be worth showing up for.
Related:
- Avengers: Endgame Encore: Doomsday Preview in Theaters
- Avengers: Endgame Encore Leaked Post-Credit Scenes: Doomsday Spoilers
