'Pokemon Detective Pikachu' battles 'Avengers: Endgame' for the top box-office spot this weekend - here's what experts predict will happen

Warner Bros./Marvel Studios

"Detective Pikachu" and "Avengers: Endgame" will face off this weekend at the box office.

• "Pokemon Detective Pikachu" goes up against "Avengers: Endgame" in its third weekend of domination.
• Box-office experts project "Detective Pikachu" to fall short of dethroning "Endgame" from the top of the domestic box office.
• "Detective Pikachu" pulled in a respectable $5.7 million in Thursday previews, though.
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Warner Bros.' "Pokemon Detective Pikachu" will attempt to cash in on nostalgia this weekend when it opens in theaters against the massive "Avengers: Endgame."

Heading into its third weekend, "Endgame" has broken box-office records at an unprecedented pace, and is currently the second-highest-grossing movie of all time, behind only "Avatar." Can the Ryan Reynolds-voiced Pikachu take down Earth's Mightiest Heroes?

The answer is no, according to box-office experts.

Boxoffice.com and Box Office Mojo are both projecting "Endgame" to take the top spot at the domestic box office for a third straight weekend, with "Detective Pikachu" putting up a worthy fight. It made a respectable $5.7 million in Thursday previews, which is on par with April's "Shazam!" The DC superhero movie earned $5.9 million on Thursday and $53.5 million for its opening weekend.

READ MORE: 6 box-office records that 'Avengers: Endgame' has already broken on its quest to become the biggest movie of all time

Boxoffice.com estimates "Detective Pikachu" will make $56 million this weekend, and that "Endgame" will earn $70.7 million. Box Office Mojo projects the former to make $60 million, and the latter to pull in $73 million.

Boxoffice.com's chief analyst Shawn Robbins wrote that "Detective Pikachu" will "benefit from both its multi-generation appeal and the fact that it provides a shorter, PG-rated, family-friendly option" but added that the movie "hasn't quite excelled to the levels once expected in long range reports."

It has a subpar 67% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, which could dampen audiences' excitement. CNN's Brian Lowry wrote that it "isn't that bad, and the movie arrives helpfully armed with a couple decades worth of equity and goodwill; still, once you've gotten your fill of its wisecracking namesake, even grading on a curve, it isn't good."

While "Endgame's" domestic gross last weekend was huge at $147 million, it fell short of the second-weekend record held by "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" ($149 million). It had a bigger second-weekend decline than "Avengers: Infinity War." In its third weekend, "Infinity War" fell another 46% with $62 million. If "Endgame" were to drop that much this weekend, it would earn around $80 million.

"Detective Pikachu" is the first major summer release to try to give "Endgame" a run for its money. Last weekend saw smaller films hit theaters that ultimately didn't have a chance, including the romantic comedy "Long Shot" and STX Entertainment's animated flop, "UglyDolls." The latter became the summer's first box-office bomb with a $8.5 million opening (it was made for $45 million).

STX is releasing another movie this weekend, "Poms," which is expected to be another stinker at the box office. It has a 29% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, and Boxoffice.com is estimating it will make $8.4 million.