New York — Seven years after being the second highest-grossing film of all time, “Avengers: Endgame” returned to the No. 1 spot at the box office in a victory lap for Marvel and as food for the next film “Avengers: Doomsday”.
The re-release took in $26 million over the weekend and another $60 million overseas, according to studio estimates Sunday. The film, which earned $2.8 billion in 2019, was sent back to theaters with several end credit scenes and an opening thank you to fans from Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans.
Among re-releases, only the 1997 release of “Star Wars: A New Hope” ($35.9 million) and the 2011 remake of “The Lion King” ($30.2 million) have opened higher than “Endgame” in domestic cinemas.
Hollywood has turned to re-releases in recent years to take advantage of holes in the release schedule. But The Walt Disney Co.’s rerun, dubbed “Endgame: Encore,” came off a very busy weekend in theaters.
Three well-reviewed new releases – A24’s “Primetime”, starring Robert Pattinson; Paramount Pictures’ “Heart of the Beast,” starring Brad Pitt; and Universal Pictures’ “Forgotten Island” — all landing in theaters.
Second place, however, went to Zach Cregger’s reboot of “Resident Evil.” The Sony Pictures release continued its debut above expectations with $23.3 million in its second weekend. In two weeks, the video game adaptation has collected $103.5 million in US and Canadian theaters.
In a close race for third place, “Heart of the Beast” came out just ahead of “Primetime” with an estimated $20 million from 3,435 theaters. Directed by David Ayer, the film stars Pitt as a retired soldier who must trek through the Alaskan wilderness with his fighting dog after a plane crash. It added $30.1 million in international theaters.
But opening for “Primetime” was more impressive. “Heart of the Beast” cost $82 million to produce, making its way to profitability challenging. “Primetime,” starring Pattinson as “To Catch a Predator” guest Chris Hansen, was made with a modest budget of $15 million and opened in 500 fewer theaters.
But “Primetime,” buoyed by strong reviews and buzz from the Venice Film Festival, was down by $19.2 million. For Pattinson, who also starred this year in “The Drama” on A24 and “The Odyssey” with Universal, the strong performance showed the actor’s pulling power with Gen Z audiences.
About 69% of ticket buyers for “Primetime” were under the age of 30. Gen Z has emerged as the most consistent moviegoing demographic, fueling this year’s hits like “Obsession” and “Backrooms.” “Primetime” is directed by 30-year-old documentary filmmaker Lance Oppenheim, who co-directed the highly anticipated Elizabeth Holmes documentary, “You Can See Everything,” due out next month.
“Forgotten Island,” from DreamWorks Animation, had a hard time standing out. The film, which cost $80 million to make, opened in fifth place with a disappointing $12.8 million domestically. In 31 overseas markets, “Forgotten Island” also didn’t make much of a dent, taking in $7.8 million internationally.
Universal will be hoping that family audiences will catch up with the film that landed the weekend’s best CinemaScore (the “A”) and best reviews (94% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes). “Forgotten Island,” directed by Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado, is about two friends who are lost in a mysterious world.
The confluence of releases added to a historically good September weekend in theaters. According to Rentrak, ticket sales were up 58.5% from the same weekend last year. The domestic box office has collected $7.8 billion so far, putting it 19% ahead of last year.
With final domestic figures being released Monday, this list shows estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Rentrak:
1. “Avengers: Endgame: Encore,” $26 million.
2. “Resident Evil,” $23.3 million.
3. “Heart of the Beast,” $20 million.
4. “Primetime,” $19.2 million.
5. “Forgotten Island,” $12.8 million.
6. “Practical Magic 2,” $5.7 million.
7. “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” $4.1 million.
8. “The Odyssey,” $3.7 million.
9. “Coyote vs. Acme,” $1.9 million.
10. “Daniel and the Fiery Furnace,” $1.5 million.