Brand New Day posts the second-biggest global opening ever, giving Marvel a timely blockbuster ahead of Avengers: Doomsday.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day has delivered one of the biggest box office debuts in cinema history, earning a staggering $927 million (£687 million) worldwide during its opening weekend and becoming the highest-grossing debut in Sony Pictures’ history.
The latest instalment in the Spider-Man franchise, starring Tom Holland, Zendaya and Sadie Sink, collected $355 million from 4,487 cinemas across North America, making it the second-largest domestic opening of all time, narrowly behind Avengers: Endgame, which opened with $357.1 million in April 2019. The film also recorded the largest opening Friday in domestic box office history, taking in $168 million, surpassing Endgame’s previous record of $156.7 million.
Internationally, Brand New Day earned $572 million from more than 73,000 screens, including $121 million in China and $49 million in the United Kingdom, giving it the second-biggest global opening weekend ever, trailing only Avengers: Endgame, which launched with more than $1.2 billion worldwide.
Released last week, the film continues Peter Parker’s journey several years after Spider-Man: No Way Home. Living in a world where nobody remembers his secret identity, Peter struggles to balance an ordinary life with his responsibilities as Spider-Man. Critics have praised the film’s emotional storytelling, action sequences and Holland’s performance, with many calling it his finest portrayal of the web-slinger.
The extraordinary debut comes at an important moment for Marvel Studios, which has struggled to replicate the dominance it enjoyed during the Infinity Saga. While recent releases such as The Marvels and Thunderbolts recovered much of their production costs, neither generated the cultural impact or commercial success of Marvel’s biggest blockbusters.
Sony Pictures chairman and chief executive Tom Rothman credited the film’s success to its emotional appeal and the enduring popularity of the character.
“To be truly honest, it feels fantastic. You’ve just got to make a really, really great film,” Rothman told The Hollywood Reporter. “There hasn’t been one in five years, so scarcity has value. The audience is very, very connected with this character. It’s a very relatable story. No matter how old or young you are, everybody wants connection in the world.”
Producer Amy Pascal said the record-breaking opening demonstrated that audiences still wanted stories that combined spectacle with emotion.
“This remarkable opening reinforces that moviegoers are hungry for stories that are both spectacular and deeply human, and we’re thrilled to see that resonate on such a global scale,” she said.
Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige described the opening as “phenomenal”, saying it “sets up exciting things to come” ahead of Avengers: Doomsday, scheduled for release in December.
The result comfortably exceeded Marvel and Sony’s pre-release expectations of around $195 million domestically and $465 million worldwide. It also pushed the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s cumulative global box office beyond $33.3 billion, further cementing its status as the highest-grossing film franchise in history.
For Holland, Brand New Day marks his seventh appearance in the MCU and fourth solo Spider-Man film, while reaffirming the character’s place as one of Marvel’s biggest cinematic draws. Its predecessor, Spider-Man: No Way Home, grossed nearly $2 billion worldwide, and industry analysts believe Brand New Day could follow a similar trajectory if it maintains its strong momentum over the coming weeks.
