For one box office record, The Force is still stronger.
After slaying every record held by Star Wars: The Force Awakens over the first ten days of its release, Avengers: Endgame finally came up short for bragging rights to the best 2nd weekend gross ever. Its $145.8 million domestic haul falls just short of the $149.2 million that The Force Awakens made over its 2nd weekend.
Even so, the take that Endgame raked puts it at a new record total for a ten day gross; its haul now stands at $619.7 million in North America. That’s well ahead of The Force Awakens previous ten day mark of $540 million.
Globally, Endgame became only the fifth movie ever to cross the $2 billion mark, reaching that rarified air in a blistering 12 days (passing Titanic, The Force Awakens, and Infinity War which are also perched just north of $2 billion). Its $2.188 billion now stands second all-time only to Avatar‘s $2.788 billion.
Safely assuming that Endgame has at least $600 million more in its box office tank around the world, it’s likely to become the overall worldwide box office champ by the time it’s completed its historic theatrical run, although $3 billion seems like a long shot.
Speaking of: new releases didn’t stand a chance, like Long Shot — the political raunch-com starring Charlize Theron and Seth Rogen — which only eked out $10 million over its first three days. With a mediocre “B” Cinemascore it’s unlikely to get a big word-of-mouth boost in the upcoming competitive weeks.
With a global title likely, the one big question remaining for Endgame is this: can it soar past The Force Awakens domestic mark of $936.6 million? Even more tantalizing, can it possibly become the first billion-dollar movie in North America? Both are very possible but, at this point, I still consider another $318-to-$381 million unlikely.
I’d say it’s a given that Endgame will become only the second film to cross the $800 million mark domestically, and even has $900 million well within its sights. But after a 55% drop from its first to second weekend, the record pace should start to slow considerably, especially as more offerings targeted at the same audience (from John Wick 3 to Aladdin) plus graduation festivities for high school and college age demos lure key moviegoers away from a third helping of Endgame.