James Cameron Has Officially Lost the Highest-Grossing Movie of All Time

The biggest box office fight in Hollywood has spent years looking like James Cameron telling Marvel that he does not share his toys. Avatar took the worldwide record from Titanic, Avengers: Endgame stole it in 2019, and Cameron promptly took it back with an Avatar re-release. Seven years later, Marvel has finally landed another punch.

In a piece of news we know we've written before, Avengers: Endgame is now, once again, the highest-grossing movie of all time, having overtaken Avatar, yet again, reaching $2.92 billion worldwide, with the latest run adding $126 million to its lifetime total. The Encore release added $36.2 million domestically and $89.8 million internationally, enough to push Endgame narrowly beyond Cameron's groundbreaking trip to Pandora on the unadjusted worldwide chart, and in doing so, it also takes the MCU's combined theatrical total beyond an absurd $35 billion.

Endgame originally became the top dog in the world back in 2019 when it eventually passed Avatar during its first run in theaters, but then Cameron re-released the film in China in 2021, which pushed it back beyond Tony Stark and Steve Rogers. Since then, Avatar has been sitting at the top waiting for somebody to catch it. Marvel finally did — by re-releasing its own movie, and by tempting audiences with four minutes of new footage shot for the film designed to link it directly to December's Avengers: Doomsday.

Can 'Avatar' Take the Record Back Again?

Well, it could, because re-releases can add a decent amount of money. It would get quite tiresome if it did, because the back-and-forth was fun initially, but it feels like the success is diluted every time a movie is re-released to get a few more million in the bank. For now, though, the crown belongs to Marvel. Endgame: Encore has taken a seven-year-old blockbuster back into theaters and somehow turned the all-time box office race into a live competition again. Cameron can at least console himself with the fact that Avatar remains right behind it, while Titanic is also still sitting comfortably among the biggest movies ever made. There are worse problems to have.

Avengers: Endgame is officially the highest-grossing movie of all time worldwide, with approximately $2.92 billion in lifetime ticket sales. Avengers: Endgame is currently playing in theaters for a limited time.