Spider-Man: Brand New Day, starring Tom Holland, Zendaya and Sadie Sink, is closing in on one of Hollywood’s biggest box-office records, with the superhero blockbuster now within striking distance of Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens as the highest-grossing movie of all time in North America.
Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, the fourth solo Spider-Man movie starring Holland as Peter Parker has generated record-breaking numbers since arriving in theatres.
The film opened with $360.1 million from 4,487 North American theatres during the July 31-Aug. 2 weekend, surpassing the $357.1-million opening of Avengers: Endgame in 2019 to establish a new domestic opening-weekend record.
Its extraordinary run continued globally. Just 17 days after its release, Brand New Day crossed $2 billion at the worldwide box office, becoming only the eighth movie in history to reach that milestone.
As of Tuesday, the film had earned approximately $2.411 billion worldwide, including $924.9 million from North American theatres.
Spider-Man within $13 million of historic record
On Sept. 4, Brand New Day became only the second movie ever to cross $900 million domestically.
The only other film to achieve that milestone is Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which has held the North American box-office record for more than a decade.
Released in December 2015, The Force Awakens marked the theatrical return of the Star Wars franchise following Disney’s acquisition of Lucasfilm.
The J.J. Abrams-directed blockbuster opened with $247.9 million in North America and eventually finished its domestic run with $936.66 million. Internationally, it generated another $1.131 billion for a worldwide total of approximately $2.068 billion.
With Brand New Day sitting at $924.9 million domestically, the latest Spider-Man film needs roughly another $12.8 million to surpass The Force Awakens and claim the all-time North American box-office crown.
Record could fall this weekend
The question is increasingly becoming when, rather than whether, Brand New Day will break the record.
Approximately 40 days into its theatrical run, the film remains in 3,520 North American theatres — an unusually wide release for a movie this far into its run and greater than the comparable theatre counts for Avengers: Endgame and The Force Awakens.
Its staying power also remains strong.
During its sixth weekend, from Sept. 4-6, Brand New Day earned another $18.1 million, declining only 19 per cent from the previous weekend. It followed that performance with approximately $5.5 million on Labor Day and another $1.5 million on Tuesday.
Even under conservative projections, the film appears positioned to surpass the Star Wars record by the end of the coming weekend.
If that happens, Spider-Man: Brand New Day will end the more than 10-year reign of The Force Awakens as North America’s highest-grossing movie and add another major milestone to what has already become one of the most commercially successful theatrical runs in movie history.
