A powerful one-two punch from “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” and “The Odyssey” has fueled the biggest collective weekend in box office history, with roughly $430 million across all movies in the marketplace.
Prior to this, the top three weekends were led by 2019’s “Avengers: Endgame” ($402 million collectively), 2018’s “Avengers: Infinity War” ($314 million collectively) and 2015’s “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” ($313 million collectively). It’s a particularly exciting benchmark for the recently married Tom Holland and Zendaya, who star in “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” and “The Odyssey.”
“We have conquered a box-office milestone that seemed forever out of reach,” says Paul Dergarabedian, Rentrak’s head of marketplace trends. “This is now only the second $400 million-plus weekend in box office history.”
“Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” the fourth comic-book adventure starring Holland as the web-slinging hero, exploded with $355 million in its domestic debut, ranking as the second-biggest opening of all time as well as the second movie in history to cross $300 million in a single weekend. “Brand New Day” nearly matched the opening weekend record held by “Avengers: Endgame,” which ignited to an astounding $357 million. (And some analysts believe “Brand New Day” could end up eclipsing “Endgame’s” record when final numbers are tallied on Monday.) “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” already scored the largest preview haul with $72 million, as well as the biggest opening day with $168 million.
However, “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” couldn’t have powered the overall weekend record alone. “The Odyssey” remained a force in its third frame with $51 million, a remarkable haul given the all-out frenzy around Peter Parker. Holdovers like Disney’s “Toy Story 5” and “Moana” and Universal’s “Minion & Monsters” also contributed to the fun.
“The combination of ‘Spider-Man’ and ‘The Odyssey’ — a legacy superhero sequel and a big original production — is taking the box office to new highs by a comfortable margin,” says David A. Gross, who publishes the box office newsletter FranchiseRe. “These are stunning numbers.”
“Spider-Man: Brand New Day” is the follow-up to 2021’s behemoth “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” which opened to $260 million (the third-biggest debut ever) and powered to $1.9 billion by the end of its run. And that was without China, a major market for Marvel movies. That film was huge because all three Spider-Men — Holland, Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield — shared the screen in a crossover event for the ages. Since “No Way Home” ended on a massive cliffhanger (Holland’s Peter Parker made the difficult decision to erase his identity from the world in order to save the multiverse), a ton of people have been waiting half a decade to find out what happens next. “Brand New Day” lived up to the hype: Critics and audiences were high on the movie, which boasts a 90% on Rotten Tomatoes and “A” grade on CinemaScore exit polls — setting up the comic-book tentpole to dominate in theaters throughout the rest of August.
“The Odyssey” continues to shatter expectations, too. Christopher Nolan‘s Greek epic has generated a remarkable $911 million worldwide after three weekends in theaters. It’s poised to imminently cross the billion-dollar mark, underscoring Nolan’s ability to transform his movies into cultural events. “The Odyssey” will also soon surpass “The Dark Knight” ($1.008 billion) and 2012’s “The Dark Knight Rises” ($1.08 billion) as the director’s highest-grossing film of all time. Not bad for an adaptation of a nearly 3,000-year-old poem.
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