Some box-office records are broken and forgotten. Others turn into a rivalry of their own. The global crown has now changed hands between two films once again, with a Marvel blockbuster using a theatrical re-release to rewrite a record it had already set years ago.

The battle between Avengers: Endgame and James Cameron's Avatar has been particularly unusual because both films have relied on returning to theatres to strengthen their lifetime grosses. Endgame originally overtook Avatar in 2019, only for Cameron's sci-fi epic to reclaim the record after another theatrical engagement in 2021.

Now, Avengers: Endgame has taken the title back. Following the success of Avengers Endgame: Encore, the 2019 Marvel blockbuster has become the highest-grossing film in worldwide box-office history, with an estimated global gross of $2.9255 billion, edging past Avatar's $2.9237 billion. The latest milestone comes after Endgame: Encore added another $126 million to the film's lifetime haul, including $36.2 million from the domestic market and $89.8 million internationally.

The irony is that the record itself has effectively become a tug-of-war between the two films. Avatar spent nearly a decade as the biggest film ever before Endgame overtook it during its original theatrical run. However, a 2021 re-release of Avatar pushed Cameron's film back into first place, meaning Marvel's 2019 phenomenon had to wait several years for another shot at the crown.

The achievement also gives the Marvel Cinematic Universe another box-office milestone. Disney said the studio's 38 theatrical releases have collectively crossed $35 billion worldwide, making the MCU the highest-grossing film franchise in history. Interestingly, the record is based on unadjusted worldwide grosses, meaning it does not account for inflation or differences in ticket prices across decades. The title is therefore about the raw amount earned at the global box office rather than the number of tickets sold.

For Endgame, however, the significance goes beyond the number. The film was already the culmination of more than a decade of Marvel storytelling when it arrived in 2019, bringing together characters and storylines from across the Infinity Saga. Its latest box-office feat demonstrates that the appetite for revisiting that chapter has remained strong even seven years after its original release.