Marvel Studios will give Avengers: Endgame the push that it likely needs in a bid to surpass Avatar as the all-time worldwide box-office champ by reissuing the movie with additional footage.
At a press conference for the upcoming ‘Spider-Man: Far From Home,’ Marvel chief Kevin Feige told Comicbook.com that the three-hour film would be re-released with a deleted scene, clearly intended to lure more people back to see it before it finishes its run in theaters, reported CNN.
Speaking to Screenrant, the Marvel executive described the additions as “a few new things at the end of the movie.”
The Avengers sequel has already amassed $2.743 billion globally so far according to the website Boxofficemojo.com, but that leaves it about $44 million behind Avatar, director James Cameron’s 2009 sci-fi epic.
After a record-breaking opening, Avengers is finally slowing down, having added another $3.7 million in North American ticket sales for the most recent weekend.
It’s not uncommon for studios to employ such tactics to push movies past various milestones, but Marvel’s stunt now falls under the heading of a sibling rivalry. That’s because Avatar and its upcoming sequels are now part of the Walt Disney Co. via its acquisition of most 20th Century Fox entertainment assets.
Only five movies have ever surpassed $2 billion in the worldwide box office, and with the addition of Avatar, Disney now holds the rights to four of them.
Cameron is planning multiple Avatar sequels. There have been several delays, but the first is now scheduled to be released in December 2021.
