Spider-Man: Brand New Day is projected to pull down $355 million and change at the box office in its opening weekend, making it the second-biggest haul in history, just $2 million shy of Endgame’s $357.1 million back in 2019. Brand New Day did top Endgame’s opening day, with $168 million vs that film’s $157.4 million.
This is the domestic box office haul, mind you. The film has earned $927 million globally, though these are still estimates and the hard numbers will go live on Monday, August 3. Still, this is a massive success for Sony, Marvel, Disney and the cast and crew of the film, which deserves both its massive financial win and the critical and fan praise.
You can read my review of Spider-Man: Brand New Day right here.
In any case, it’s always fun to compare numbers when it comes to these kinds of record-setting films. And while Brand New Day may come in second place after Endgame (or swing past it in the 11th hour) it still beat every other Spidey film’s opening weekend. I have several lists to illustrate just how big of a hit this film really was. I’m leaving out global box office opening weekend rankings, because these are actually pretty messy with release dates on some of the films, which makes it much harder to pin down, but comparing domestic box office should illustrate the point well enough.
Every Spider-Man Movie Opening Weekend Box Office Ranked
Ranked from lowest to highest, without inflation:
- Into the Spider-Verse (2018) — $35.5 million
- The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) — $62 million*
- Spider-Man 2 (2004) — $88.2 million*
- The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014) — $91.6 million
- Far From Home (2019) — $93.6 million*
- Spider-Man (2002) — $114.8 million
- Homecoming (2017) — $117 million
- Across the Spider-Verse (2023) — $120.5 million
- Spider-Man 3 (2007) — $151.1 million
- No Way Home (2021) — $260.1 million
- Brand New Day (2026) — $355 million (estimate)
*Notably, Spider-Man 2 and The Amazing Spider-Man both opened midweek, so their three-day figures don’t represent their full weekend hauls ($180 million and and $137 million million respectively) but this is just one problem with comparisons. If we list those numbers, it includes extra days compared to the other films on this list. Regardless, neither comes close to Brand New Day’s $355 million. Far From Home also had a mid-week release, pulling down $185.1 million over its six-day opening.
But what about inflation?
Every Spider-Man Movie Opening Weekend Box Office Ranked With Inflation
- Into the Spider-Verse (2018) — $35.5 million → $47 million
- The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) — $62 million → $90 million
- Far From Home (2019) — $93.6 million → $121 million
- The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014) — $91.6 million → $129 million
- Across the Spider-Verse (2023) — $120.5 million → $132 million
- Spider-Man 2 (2004) — $88.2 million → $155 million
- Homecoming (2017) — $117 million → $160 million
- Spider-Man (2002) — $114.8 million → $213 million
- Spider-Man 3 (2007) — $151.1 million → $243 million
- No Way Home (2021) — $260.1 million → $312 million
- Brand New Day (2026) — $355 million (estimate)
The same distorted numbers apply here for the mid-week releases (Far From Home, Spider-Man 2 and The Amazing Spider-Man) but again, none of this changes the fact that even adjusted for inflation, Brand New Day is the clear winner.
Why Inflation Isn’t That Important When Discussing Box Office Numbers
There are countless other factors involved when comparing new releases to historical hits, and inflation is just one of many. Others include:
Ticket Price Mix: Back in the days of the Sam Raimi Spider-Man movies, there were very few “premium” tickets or formats available to moviegoers. Premium large formats accounted for 24% of Brand New Day’s estimated opening, including 3D and PLF surcharges.
Technology Changes And Windowing: Theaters have been struggling. Between the rise of streaming, the hit the industry took during the COVID-19 pandemic and overall theatrical attrition, people are less likely to go to the movies now than in 2002. Back then, the only way to see the new Spider-Man was to go to the movies or wait until it came out on DVD and then buy or rent the film. Now, many consumers will simply wait until it releases on a streaming platform they already pay for.
There are other factors like number of theaters (which has actually gone up despite the economic forces at play); front-loading, in which more moviegoers tend to show up early for movies these days on opening weekend than in previous eras; and marketing spend, which was certainly massive for Brand New Day (including an unprecedented $309 million promotional partner campaign outside of Sony’s own marketing budget). And it’s hard to pin down exact number of tickets sold due to different tracking methods, though as of right now Brand New Day is estimated at 24.1 million tickets vs No Way Home’s 20 million tickets sold on opening weekend via EntTelligence counts.
So Why Is ‘Brand New Day’ Such A Massive Hit?
The question a lot of people have is why Brand New Day is such a huge hit? It’s not as action-packed as No Way Home and doesn’t include the big Spidey cameos that film had. In my review, I noted that it was the lack of world-ending stakes and a more personal, emotional story that won me over. And it sounds like that was the strategy behind the Destin Daniel Cretton-directed film.
Sony Motion Pictures Chairman and CEO Tom Rothman told Deadline, “We all talked about it –Kevin Feige, Amy Pascal, and Tom Holland was very involved– it wasn’t possible to go bigger than the last movie, so we said let’s go deeper. Let’s do something different and make a character-driven story in the midst of spectacle.”
Have you watched Brand New Day? What did you think? How would you rank it against your favorite Spidey films? Let me know on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook.
