‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ Just Beat ‘Shrek 2,’ and Its Box Office Run Is Getting Wild

Tom Holland’s Spider-Man is having an absolutely massive run at the box office, and the latest milestone shows just how far the movie has climbed. Spider-Man: Brand New Day has now passed Shrek 2 in estimated domestic ticket sales, putting the superhero sequel inside the top 10 most-attended movies in U.S. box office history. It is another huge achievement for a movie that has already spent months breaking records and turning into one of the biggest hits of 2026.

The latest numbers, as reported in box office tracking data, put Brand New Day ahead of DreamWorks’ Shrek 2 when it comes to estimated tickets sold during their original domestic theatrical runs. That is a pretty impressive comparison because Shrek 2 was one of the biggest movies of its time. Released in 2004, the animated sequel sold around 71 million tickets in the United States and opened with one of the biggest weekends ever recorded at the time. Now, more than two decades later, Spider-Man has managed to move past it.

Brand New Day was already making history from the moment it arrived in theaters. The movie reportedly opened with an incredible $360 million domestically, beating Avengers: Endgame’s $357 million opening weekend record from 2019. The movie then kept moving at an unusual speed, reaching more than $2 billion worldwide in only 17 days. That kind of performance is rare, even for a major superhero movie, and it quickly turned Brand New Day into one of the biggest box office stories of the year.

The film has also been climbing the superhero rankings. It recently passed Sam Raimi’s 2002 Spider-Man in estimated domestic attendance, moving into seventh place among the most-attended superhero movies in the U.S. That makes the latest Shrek 2 milestone even more interesting because Brand New Day is not simply collecting huge dollar totals. It is also bringing an enormous number of people into theaters, which gives the movie another way to measure just how popular it has become.

According to the current box office tracking mentioned in the report, the next major target could be Avengers: Endgame. Brand New Day is reportedly on course to pass Endgame’s domestic total and potentially take the second spot on the all-time domestic box office chart. Star Wars: The Force Awakens remains ahead in first place, but the race is becoming much more interesting as Spider-Man continues to add money. Endgame is also returning to theaters in September, which could give Marvel’s 2019 blockbuster an extra boost before the final numbers are settled.

The movie’s success is not only about opening-weekend hype either. Brand New Day currently has a 90 percent critics score on Rotten Tomatoes and an A CinemaScore from audiences, according to the figures included in the report. Those numbers suggest that people are not just showing up because Spider-Man is a huge character. Audiences appear to be enjoying the movie enough to keep the momentum going long after opening weekend.

Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, Brand New Day takes place four years after Spider-Man: No Way Home. Peter Parker is now living alone after making the painful decision to erase himself from the memories of the people closest to him. He has completely committed himself to being Spider-Man, but that life starts taking a serious toll. When a strange new series of crimes appears, Peter finds himself facing a powerful threat that pushes him into another major fight.

The movie is also competing during a surprisingly strong year for blockbusters. Toy Story 5, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, and Michael have all reportedly crossed the $1 billion mark, meaning Brand New Day is not dominating during a quiet year. It is doing it while several other major films are pulling huge audiences of their own. That makes its continued climb even more impressive.

For now, Spider-Man: Brand New Day has already beaten Shrek 2 in estimated ticket sales, passed the original Spider-Man in superhero attendance, and put itself within reach of Avengers: Endgame. If its current momentum continues, the movie could finish the year much higher on the all-time box office chart than anyone expected. What started as another Tom Holland Spider-Man adventure has quickly become one of the biggest theatrical success stories of 2026.

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