Worldwide, the film has already banked $927 million, making this the second-biggest opening weekend in history. Only one film stands taller: Avengers: Endgame.
Forget “comic book fatigue.” Someone forgot to tell Peter Parker.
Sure, the internet loves to declare superhero movies dead every few months, usually right before one of them casually vaporizes the box office. But the people locked into Deadpool sequels and Marvel team-ups aren’t tired yet — they’re just waiting for the right web to swing on. And this weekend, they found it.
A Sequel to the Comeback
Rewind to the holidays of 2021: the world was 21 months into a pandemic, movie theaters were basically on life support, and Spider-Man: No Way Home strolled in and casually pulled off the second-biggest opening weekend of all time — $260.1 million — like it wasn’t a big deal. For context, the previous record-holder in that stretch was Venom: Let There Be Carnage, which had cracked $90 million just ten weeks earlier. Black Widow limped in at $80.3 million (while also being available on Disney+, which is a bit like selling movie tickets next to a vending machine offering the same movie for free). Even Eternals showed up to the party with $71.2 million.
No Way Home didn’t just make money — it single-handedly reminded people that movie theaters exist. Frankly, it deserves at least as much credit as Top Gun: Maverick for resurrecting the box office, even though Tom Cruise did his own stunts and Spider-Man merely swung through a CGI multiverse.
Enter: Brand New Day
Fast forward to now, and the world has, in fact, not forgotten Peter Parker. Spider-Man: Brand New Day just opened to a jaw-dropping $354.8 million — a mere $2.3 million shy of dethroning Avengers: Endgame‘s all-time record of $357.1 million.
That’s not a gap. That’s a photo finish. We’re talking box office numbers so close together you could practically hear Sony sweating through the weekend, waiting on Monday’s final tally like it’s an Oscar envelope.
And this wasn’t a slow build — the film obliterated Endgame‘s opening-day (plus previews) record right out of the gate, pulling in $168 million to Endgame‘s $157.4 million. At this point, Endgame is the only film worth mentioning in the same sentence. Every other comparison is just noise.
The Critics Approve (Mostly)
Reviewers are on board too, with the film landing a solid 90% on Rotten Tomatoes — just a hair below the 92%, 91%, and 93% scores of the previous three Tom Holland Spidey outings. (Someone give this man a vacation. Or don’t, apparently, because it’s working.) For what it’s worth, Sam Raimi’s original two Spider-Man films also cleared the 90% mark, so the web-slinger seems to have a knack for keeping critics happy across two different cinematic universes and at least three different actors.
The Bottom Line
Worldwide, Brand New Day has already pulled in $927 million — an enormous number that still, somehow, looks modest next to Endgame‘s eye-watering $1.223 billion global opening. Records were made to be chased, though, and right now, Spider-Man is closer to catching the Avengers than anyone has ever been.
Monday’s final numbers might just rewrite the history books. Until then: sit tight, refresh your box office tracker of choice, and enjoy the fact that going to the movies is, once again, apparently a group activity.
