‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ Nears ‘The Force Awakens’ All-Time Box Office Record

Sony and Marvel entered the summer with high hopes for ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day,’ but even the most optimistic projections couldn’t have foreseen the historic success this film would achieve. Tom Holland’s fourth portrayal of Peter Parker debuted with a staggering $360.1 million opening weekend, indicating that this was no ordinary Spider-Man release.

The film has maintained remarkable momentum for nearly two months, consistently breaking records at a pace rarely seen in modern blockbusters. Instead of the typical sharp decline after its opening weekend, ‘Brand New Day’ has dominated the domestic box office for six consecutive weekends, defying the usual trajectory for superhero films.

This impressive staying power has brought the film close to making box office history. With an additional $2 million added on its seventh Friday, ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ has reached a domestic total of $928.8 million, now just $8.5 million shy of becoming the highest-grossing film of all time in North America.

The current record is held by 2015’s ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens,’ which has maintained its domestic crown with $936.6 million for over a decade. Current projections suggest that ‘Brand New Day’ could reach approximately $935 million by Sunday, positioning it to potentially break the record around September 16 or 17.

The film’s pursuit of ‘The Force Awakens’ record has seemed inevitable for weeks, given how swiftly it has surpassed previous benchmarks. It became the fastest film ever to cross $800 million domestically, achieving that milestone in just 19 days, compared to ‘The Force Awakens’ previous record of 23 days.

Continuing its impressive pace, ‘Brand New Day’ crossed the $900 million mark in only 36 days, while ‘The Force Awakens’ took 50 days to reach that threshold. This achievement makes ‘Brand New Day’ just the second film in history to surpass $900 million domestically, a title that had been held exclusively by the 2015 Star Wars sequel for nearly a decade.

Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, ‘Brand New Day’ also propelled Holland’s Spider-Man to $2 billion worldwide earlier this month, making it the eighth film in history to reach that milestone and surpassing ‘No Way Home’ as Sony’s highest-grossing release ever. The film features an ensemble cast that includes Zendaya, Sadie Sink, Jacob Batalon, Jon Bernthal, Tramell Tillman, and Mark Ruffalo in a special cameo as Bruce Banner.

‘The Force Awakens,’ directed by J.J. Abrams, set its domestic record back in December 2015 during Disney and Lucasfilm’s major relaunch of the Star Wars franchise following the studio’s $4.05 billion acquisition of Lucasfilm. The film went on to gross over $2 billion worldwide, making its decade-long hold on the domestic record even more significant given how few films have come close since.

The sustained positive word of mouth surrounding ‘Brand New Day’ has been crucial for its long-term box office success, especially following the multiverse-spanning spectacle of ‘No Way Home,’ which many believed would be hard to surpass. Instead, audiences have responded positively to a more character-driven Spider-Man narrative, allowing the film to maintain steady weekend earnings rather than the rapid declines typically seen after major franchise openings.

With the finish line now just days away, ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ seems almost certain to become the highest-grossing domestic release of all time very soon. Given how far ahead of pace this film has been compared to all previous record holders, there’s a real chance its final total could exceed the $936.6 million mark significantly.

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