Sony Pictures announced on Monday that “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” set a new North American opening weekend record by grossing $360 million in ticket sales across theatres in the U.S. and Canada. Initially projected to earn $355 million in its first weekend in 4,487 theaters, the film, starring Tom Holland, surpassed expectations on Sunday, surpassing the previous record held by “Avengers: Endgame.”
Tom Rothman, the chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, expressed pride in the achievement, highlighting that no movie had previously opened with over $300 million domestically before “Avengers: Endgame.” The movie’s success, alongside the performance of “The Odyssey,” featuring the same cast members Holland, Zendaya, and Jon Bernthal, contributed to a record-breaking weekend for movie theaters in the U.S. and Canada.
In the past, “Avengers: Infinity War” held the record with a $257 million opening in 2018, followed by “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” with $247 million in 2015. Furthermore, the third installment in the Holland Spider-Man series, “No Way Home,” made its mark during the pandemic in December 2021 with a $260 million domestic debut, eventually reaching $1.9 billion globally.
The latest Spider-Man installment, “Brand New Day,” explores a darker tone for the franchise as the protagonist faces personal and crime-fighting dilemmas in New York. The overall domestic box office has seen a significant increase of over 15% compared to the previous year, totaling more than $6.2 billion in ticket sales, according to box office analytics company Rentrak.