‘The Odyssey’ Surpasses ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ at the Global Box Office

Summer box office rivalries typically don’t last this long, but two of 2026’s biggest films have been engaged in an unusually close competition for weeks. Both titles have emerged as dominant forces this year, frequently trading places on the domestic charts, even as one has been seen as the expected frontrunner.

This expectation took an intriguing turn as the films entered their latest weekends in theaters. What seemed to be a steady reign for one franchise faced its first significant challenge in over a month.

For the first time since the release of Sony and Marvel’s ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ on July 31, Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’ has claimed the No. 1 position at the global weekend box office, according to Deadline. ‘The Odyssey’ garnered an estimated $45.96 million worldwide over the three-day weekend, narrowly surpassing ‘Brand New Day’s’ $44.1 million in its sixth weekend of release.

This shift wasn’t entirely unexpected. As reported by Screen Rant, ‘The Odyssey’ had briefly overtaken ‘Spider-Man’ on the daily domestic chart earlier in the week, claiming the top spot on both Wednesday, September 2, and Thursday, September 3, before ‘Brand New Day’ regained its lead that Friday.

Despite losing the weekend crown, ‘Brand New Day’ remains a box office powerhouse. The film has amassed approximately $2.4 billion worldwide, with $1.485 billion from international markets and $917.8 million domestically as of Sunday, making it the third-highest-grossing movie of all time, trailing only ‘Avatar’ and ‘Avengers: Endgame.’

Domestically, ‘Brand New Day’ is also nearing a historic milestone. The film is just $13.66 million away from surpassing ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ at $936.66 million, which would make it the highest-grossing movie ever at the North American box office.

‘The Odyssey’ has impressive numbers of its own. According to Screen Rant, the film has already earned back more than six times its reported $250 million budget and now ranks as the 14th-highest-grossing movie of all time worldwide, largely due to strong audience retention throughout its run.

The film’s domestic earnings are also approaching a significant franchise milestone. As noted by ComicBasics, ‘The Odyssey’s’ total is positioning it to soon surpass ‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie’s’ domestic earnings and become Universal’s second-highest-grossing release ever in North America, only behind ‘Jurassic World.’

Nolan’s epic has also become the director’s highest-grossing film globally, surpassing both ‘The Dark Knight’ and ‘The Dark Knight Rises,’ and ranks as the second-highest-grossing R-rated movie ever released, following only ‘Deadpool & Wolverine,’ according to ComicBasics. IMAX has significantly contributed to this success, with the format alone accounting for over $486 million of the film’s global total, making it IMAX’s highest-grossing release of all time.

Interestingly, both films share a notable connection beyond their box office rivalry, with Tom Holland starring in ‘Brand New Day’ and Zendaya leading ‘The Odyssey.’ This latest chart flip effectively pits two Holland-Zendaya projects against each other at the global box office.

As both films continue to perform strongly in theaters, the competition between them shows no signs of slowing down.

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