Hopes high of tourism boost for Borders as Avengers: Endgame passes $2.6bn mark at box office and closes in on world record

Avengers: Endgame is now the second most successful film of all time, having taken $2.683bn at box offices worldwide, and tourism businesses in the Borders are hoping that will mean big bucks for them too.
Chris Hemsworth as Thor in Avengers: Endgame.Chris Hemsworth as Thor in Avengers: Endgame.
Chris Hemsworth as Thor in Avengers: Endgame.

Despite only having been out a month, the Marvel superhero film, partly shot in the region, is now just $105m short of the all-time record of $2.788bn set by the 2009 James Cameron-directed science fiction film Avatar.

Scenes for the £356m movie, the fourth in the Avengers series, were shot at St Abbs on the Berwickshire coast in May 2017, and tourism chiefs are now hoping that fans of the blockbuster will be keen to follow in the footsteps of Thor, played by Chris Hemsworth, and head there.

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St Abbs doubles as Thor’s Norwegian bolthole, New Asgard, in the film, and Scottish Borders Council has had road signs made highlighting that claim to fame.

David Wilson, left, and Paul Crowe of the St Abbs lifeboat crew with a sign proclaiming the village to be twinned with the fictional New Asgard.David Wilson, left, and Paul Crowe of the St Abbs lifeboat crew with a sign proclaiming the village to be twinned with the fictional New Asgard.
David Wilson, left, and Paul Crowe of the St Abbs lifeboat crew with a sign proclaiming the village to be twinned with the fictional New Asgard.

David Wilson and Paul Crowe, members of the independent lifeboat crew there, have posed for pictures with the new signs to help promote the village.

A spokesperson for the crew said: “During filming in 2017, St Abbs lifeboat station was rebranded as New Asgard lifeboat station, but only on the understanding that the Marvel film-makers dropped everything and cleared the way for our crew if the pagers went off during takes.

“Even Hollywood doesn’t stand in the way of a call-out.

“As a bit of fun, Scottish Borders Council have had a couple of road signs made up and photographed two of our crew at local spots that appear in the film.

“Marvel also made a generous donation to the lifeboat, which was much appreciated.”

VisitScotland regional leadership director Paula Ward said: “It is fantastic to see the region take on a starring role in one of the year’s biggest blockbusters, propelling the spectacular Scottish Borders coastline to audiences and fans of the Avengers franchise across the globe.”

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Directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, Avengers: Endgame’s cast also includes Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Don Cheadle, Paul Rudd, Brie Larson, Karen Gillan, Bradley Cooper, and Josh Brolin.