Avengers: Endgame retakes box office crown
By AP, September 29, 2026Seven years after becoming the second-highest-grossing film ever, “Avengers: Endgame” returned to the No. 1 spot at the box office in a victory lap for Marvel and an appetiser for the upcoming blockbuster “Avengers: Doomsday.”
The rerelease grossed $26 million over the weekend and another $60 million, about Ksh70 billion, overseas, according to studio estimates Sunday. The film, which grossed $2.8 billion, about Ksh363 billion, in 2019, returned to theatres with several new end-credits scenes and an introductory thank-you to fans from Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans.
Among rereleases, only the 1997 release of “Star Wars: A New Hope” and the 2011 repeat of “The Lion King” have opened higher than “Endgame” in domestic cinemas.
Hollywood has increasingly turned to rereleases in recent years to fill gaps in the release schedule. But The Walt Disney Co. rerun, billed as “Endgame: Encore,” came out on top on an especially crowded weekend in theatres.
Three well-reviewed new releases — A24’s “Primetime,” with Robert Pattinson; Paramount Pictures’ “Heart of the Beast,” with Brad Pitt; and Universal Pictures’ “Forgotten Island” — all landed in theatres.
Second place, though, went to Zach Cregger’s reboot of “Resident Evil.” The Sony Pictures release followed up its above-expectations debut with $23.3 million, about Ksh3B, in its second weekend. In two weeks, the video-game adaptation has grossed $103.5 million, about Ksh14B in U.S. and Canadian theatres.
In a close race for third place, “Heart of the Beast” came out just ahead of “Primetime” with an estimated $20 million, about Ksh2.6B, from 3,435 theatres. Directed by David Ayer, the film stars Pitt as a retired veteran who must trek through the Alaskan wilderness with his combat dog after a plane crash.
Pattinson drives Primetime sales
But the opening for “Primetime” was more impressive. “Heart of the Beast” cost $82 million to produce, making its path to profitability challenging. “Primetime,” starring Pattinson as “To Catch a Predator” host Chris Hansen, was made with a modest budget of $15 million and it opened in 500 fewer theatres.
Yet “Primetime” was buoyed by strong reviews and buzz out of the Venice Film Festival. For Pattinson, who also starred this year in A24’s “The Drama” and Universal’s “The Odyssey,” the strong performance showed the actor’s drawing power with Gen Z audiences.