Avengers Endgame Encore Leads Friday Box Office With $11.2M

Marvel’s Avengers: Endgame Encore led the North American box office on Friday with $11.2 million from 3,060 screens and is pacing toward a roughly $26 million weekend, Variety and TheWrap reported.

The 2019 blockbuster’s re-release, directed by Anthony Russo and Joe Russo, adds a modified ending and new post-credit scenes ahead of Avengers: Doomsday, set for theaters December 18. TheWrap said the weekend haul would lift Endgame’s lifetime domestic gross to about $884 million and move the title within roughly $100 million of Avatar’s all-time global record.

Variety placed A24’s Primetime second on Friday with $8.49 million from 2,874 locations, tracking toward about $20.5 million for the weekend. Paramount’s Heart of the Beast, starring Brad Pitt, took an estimated $7.45 million Friday from 3,435 sites and is also aimed near $20 million. Sony’s Resident Evil slipped to fourth with $6.9 million in its second frame after a franchise-best $61 million debut last week.

Universal and DreamWorks Animation’s Forgotten Island opened softer, with Variety citing $4.38 million Friday and an $11.5 million weekend pace. TheWrap noted strong reviews and audience scores for the animated title even as that start ranks among DreamWorks’ weaker theatrical launches.

Endgame Encore’s Thursday previews had already signaled demand, with earlier Variety reporting of $3.8 million in previews before Friday’s full-day jump. For Hollywood readers on Hollywood, the re-release is less a nostalgia stunt than a Doomsday marketing bridge that also stole general-audience share from newer openers.

Primetime, starring Robert Pattinson as To Catch a Predator host Chris Hansen, continues to draw Venice buzz and mixed biopic expectations; TheWrap cited an 87% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes alongside a B CinemaScore. Heart of the Beast drew stronger audience grades but carries a higher reported budget, making October holds more important than Friday bragging rights.

Verified Friday figures per Variety and TheWrap: Endgame Encore $11.2 million / ~$26 million weekend pace; Primetime ~$8.5 million Friday / ~$20.5 million weekend; Heart of the Beast ~$7.4–$7.45 million Friday / ~$20 million weekend; Resident Evil $6.9 million Friday; Forgotten Island ~$4.3–$4.38 million Friday. Sunday estimates will settle whether the Encore re-release posts a true event weekend or a short-lived Marvel spike.