After some doubts over whether Avengers: Endgame could topple Avatar at the box office, it seems like Marvel’s hastily cobbled together Endgame re-release has managed to finally push the film over the finish line.
That’s right, Captain America’s arse has beaten the blue people of Pandora for the crown of highest-grossing film of all time.
According to estimates from Deadline, Endgame has managed to squeak past Avatar‘s tally of $2.789 billion. Where it will end up remains to be seen but the folks at Marvel probably don’t care at this point. They’ve taken down the king of the world and that’s really all that matters.
Endgame‘s achievement is no small feat – Avatar had held the all-time box office champ title for nearly decade – and it gives us an insightful look into where the film industry is going.
And folks, the future doesn’t look too bright.
Of the top 50 highest-grossing films of all time, a whopping 46 are either sequels, adaptations or based on existing properties. The only four “original” films sprinkled across this list are Avatar, Titanic, Zootopia, and the original Lion King. In fact, the top 10 highest-grossing films in 2019 are all remakes, sequels or adaptations of some kind.
There’s a worrying lack of creativity and original stories coming out of thee top end of Hollywood and it doesn’t look like that pattern will change any time soon. With sequels, adaptations, and remakes raking in the big bucks, there’s even less incentive for studios to bankroll big-budget originals like what they used to do decades ago.
This doesn’t mean that Hollywood is completely devoid of creativity though as we’ve had some brilliant original films, like Parasite, still making headlines in 2019.
Those moments are getting rarer though as Hollywood’s model of pumping out rehashed material means that more original content is being forced into the independent and streaming scene where there’s considerably less buzz and eyeballs.
Then again, there’s no real business reason for Hollywood to change its current formula. If millions of folks are still keen to watch The Last Of The Fate Of The Furious Episode XII: The Endgame Awakens, why mess with something that’s working?
Maybe Hollywood will become a complete sequel machine and platforms like Netflix will be the go-to places for originals. Or maybe original content will make a comeback at the box office and comic book film adaptations finally stop being cool. Who knows what will happen in the future.
Let’s just see what James Cameron has up his sleeve to topple Endgame after he’s done with his 23 sequels to Avatar.