Eman Esfandi helps ‘Spider-Man’ earn $1.2B, break box office records

Laredo native Eman Esfandi helped “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” break a wide range of box office records with its worldwide gross already surpassing $1.2 billion.

Esfandi appears in the movie opposite Tom Holland’s Peter Parker, Zendaya’s Michelle “MJ” Jones and Jacob Batalon’s Ned Leeds. He is officially credited as “The Boyfriend” on IMDB as the love interest for MJ.

According to multiple reports, subtitled screenings have revealed his character’s name to be Paul. Before the movie’s release, many speculated Esfandi would play Paul Rabin, a notorious character from Marvel Comics who was in a relationship with MJ.

“Spider-Man: Brand New Day” grossed $360,091,572 in its opening weekend, breaking the three-day domestic opening weekend record of $357,115,007 set by 2019’s “Avengers: Endgame.” “In third is 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home” at $260,138,369, and 2015’s “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” is fourth at $247,966,675.

“Spider-Man: Brand New Day” broke the record despite not having Imax screenings – which feature more expensive tickets – because Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” had an exclusivity lock on the format through last week.

Adjusted for inflation, “Avengers: Endgame” holds the record at $468,602,444, according to box office expert Dan Murrell on his YouTube series “Charts with Dan!” After “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” is in second, and Star Wars: The Force Awakens is narrowly in third at $359,346,073.

“Spider-Man: Brand New Day” also broke the “Avengers: Endgame” single-day record of $157,461,641 with $169,843,039. Both of those totals included Thursday preview screenings, and “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” had an advantage with more Thursday screenings. However, it also narrowly outgained “Avengers: Endgame” on Friday alone.

The massive opening helped set another record as last weekend’s movies combined for the highest domestic box office weekend in history with $436,541,828. “The Odyssey” also played a big part making $51,047,820 in its second week of release, and “Toy Story 5” added $6,768,503 in its seventh week.

The record was previously set with $402,087,399 April 26-28 when “Avengers: Endgame” released. It had less substantial support from other movies as “Captain Marvel” finished No. 2 in its eighth week of release with $8,312,751 and “The Curse of La Llorona” from “The Conjuring” universe was No. 3 with $8,045,744 in its second week.

“Spider-Man: Brand New Day” made another $572,000,000 internationally for a worldwide gross of $932,901,572. That is the second-best worldwide opening weekend in history. “Avengers: Endgame” had a larger international gross and holds the record at $1,223,641,414.

“Spider-Man: Brand New Day” became the fastest movie to make half a billion dollars at the domestic box office as it made another $28 million Thursday, increasing its total to $510,088,528 through one week of release.

The movie is up to $706,300,000 internationally, raising its worldwide gross to $1,216,388,528 through its opening week.

With a reported budget of $225 million and estimated print and advertising budget of $150 million, Murrell estimated the movie needed a $375 million return to break even. According to his estimates, the movie already netted a return of $420,654,943 from its opening weekend worldwide gross of $932,901,572, meaning the studio already made an estimated $45,654,943 profit from theatrical gross after only the opening weekend.

Early projections estimated the movie would make another $143 million domestically this weekend.

“Spider-Man: Brand New Day” is co-produced by Sony and Disney. The production is funded 75% by Sony and 25% by Disney, and they share the same split of net profits. Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige and his team produce the films with involvement from Sony producers such as Amy Pascal.

This is Esfandi’s second major casting with Disney. He also plays a key role in the “Star Wars” universe as Ezra Bridger in the Disney+ series “Ahsoka.” He first appeared in Episode 6, titled “Part Six: Far, Far Away,” which debuted Sept. 19, 2023.

As part of the role, Esfandi wielded an iconic lightsaber, and a prop replica was later made available for purchase.

Esfandi is set to feature throughout Season 2 of “Ahsoka” which is expected to air in early 2027.

Other credits for Esfandi include a supporting role in the 2021 Oscar-winning Will Smith movie “King Richard” and a primary role in the 2022 A24 movie “The Inspection.” He also directed the award-winning short “Pepito,” written by and starring Laredo native Isaac Garza, which was featured on HBO.

Esfandi also starred in the short film “Firewall” released in 2025. It follows an Iranian-American girl in Texas named Ani (Ayla Farmand) who is struggling to reach her father – Esfandi’s Baba – due to an internet firewall in Iran.

In addition to acting, Esfandi has released multiple EPs and singles under his rap alter ego DragonWulf.