Sony Pictures and Marvel’s Spider-Man: Brand New Day has delivered one of the strongest box office debuts in cinematic history, grossing an estimated $355 million across North America during its opening weekend.
The figure makes it the second-largest domestic opening of all time, trailing only Avengers: Endgame, which debuted with $357 million in 2019.
The latest Spider-Man installment, arriving nearly five years after the franchise’s previous film, also enjoyed a phenomenal international launch.
According to Paul Dergarabedian, head of marketplace trends at Rentrak, the movie amassed $927 million globally in its opening weekend, making it the second-biggest worldwide debut on record.
Its predecessor, Spider-Man: No Way Home, opened to $260 million in North America.
Industry observers credited the film’s impressive performance to a combination of factors, including the enduring popularity of the superhero, strong audience anticipation and positive reviews.
“Spider-Man: Brand New Day” is a “perfect storm” for a major blockbuster, according to Chris Colombo, founder of box office analytics firm Brighter Path. “You have the intellectual property, you have the character, you have the (fear of missing out) — plus good reviews,” Colombo told CNN.
The blockbuster debut continues the recent momentum at cinemas, with several major releases attracting large audiences.
Universal Pictures’ The Odyssey also maintained a strong run after surpassing opening weekend expectations with $124.5 million in North America.
The epic adaptation earned an additional $51 million over the weekend, lifting its worldwide total to $721 million, boosted in part by strong attendance at premium IMAX screenings.
Together, the top two films helped produce the highest-grossing domestic weekend in box office history, with total ticket sales reaching approximately $430 million.
Disney’s Toy Story 5 claimed third place during the weekend with $6.3 million, followed by Universal’s Minions & Monsters on $5.8 million. Disney’s live-action Moana collected $5.3 million, while Hadestown: The Musical, a live capture of the acclaimed Broadway production, rounded out the top five with $2.1 million.
“This (weekend) now sets up a tremendous month of August, and the likelihood of a $4 billion summer,” Dergarabedian told CNN in an email.
The summer box office narrowly missed the $4 billion mark last year between the first Friday in May and Labor Day, leaving 2023 as the only post-pandemic summer to achieve that milestone.
Dergarabedian believes the industry could reach $10 billion in total box office revenue by the end of 2026.
According to Rentrak, the North American box office has generated $6.19 billion so far this year, representing an increase of nearly 15 per cent compared with the same period in 2025.
