Avengers: Endgame beating Avatar is possible — but not a lock — after its 3rd weekend

Does Avengers: Endgame have what it takes to beat Avatar and become the new highest-grossing film of all time? It might, but doing so won't be easy.

Endgame's worldwide gross is now $2.48 billion, putting it about $300 million behind Avatar, which finished its historic run with $2.78 billion. This comes after Endgame, the second highest-grossing movie in history, took in another $63 million domestically and $102 million internationally in its third weekend, Box Office Mojo reports.

But after a record-breaking debut, Endgame has been slowing down faster than its predecessor, Avengers: Infinity War. Domestically, Endgame dropped 57 percent in its third weekend compared to 45 percent for Infinity War. In fact, Endgame and Infinity War made almost the exact same amount of money in the U.S. in their third weekends, even though Endgame opened $100 million higher.

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After this decline — which includes a 64 percent drop overseas — Forbes box office analyst Scott Mendelson noted on Sunday that beating Avatar is now "less likely," although "still possible." It will all depend on whether the film continues to experience steep drops like these in the coming weeks or if it can even out.

One of the problems with that, though, is that Endgame will soon face some tough competition that Avatar, which opened in the less crowded December, didn't. This includes Aladdin, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Dark Phoenix, and Men in Black: International, all of which open in the next month or so.

By any measure, Endgame's box office run has already been ridiculously impressive regardless of how things shake out. But it seems at this point that if it does beat Avatar, it will just barely do so, and it will take longer than some analysts thought after that explosive opening. This, it should be noted, doesn't adjust for inflation. In 2019 dollars, Avatar made more than $3 billion worldwide, a mind-blowing figure that could be nearly impossible for any film to reach for years to come.