‘Spider-Man’ Becomes the Only Franchise With Two Movies in America’s Top Five

Superhero cinema has spent the better part of two decades chasing box office immortality, with franchises like Avengers and Star Wars trading blows for the title of biggest movie in America. Spider-Man has always been part of that conversation, but rarely the one setting the pace outright.

That’s changed in a big way this year. Sony’s web-slinger has quietly, then not so quietly, rewritten the record books, and the fallout is only now sinking in for fans who grew up watching Tom Holland swing across their screens.

‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day‘ has become the only franchise in history with two separate films sitting inside America’s top five highest-grossing movies of all time, a distinction neither Avengers nor Avatar can claim with a single entry. The film itself now sits at the very top of that list, having pulled in $936.7 million domestically to edge past 2015’s ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens,’ which had held the record for a decade with $936.6 million.

Joining it in the top five is 2021’s ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home,’ which earned $814.8 million domestically and continues to hold its own against Marvel and Star Wars heavyweights. ‘Avengers: Endgame’ and ‘Avatar’ both remain firmly in the conversation, ranking third and fifth respectively, but each franchise can only point to one film in that elite tier.

The numbers behind ‘Brand New Day’ read like a highlight reel of box office milestones. The film opened to $360 million domestically, the biggest opening weekend in box office history at the time, and went on to become the fastest movie ever to cross every major threshold from $400 million through $900 million.

It held the number one spot at the domestic box office for six consecutive weekends before eventually settling into its record-setting run. Globally, the film has grossed $2.45 billion, placing it third on the all-time worldwide chart behind only ‘Avatar’ at $2.92 billion and ‘Avengers: Endgame’ at $2.8 billion.

SPIDER-MAN is now the only franchise with two films in America’s top five highest-grossing movies of all time. Neither Avengers nor Avatar has more than one entry: 1️⃣ Spider-Man: Brand New Day — $936.8M (2026; Sony) 2️⃣ Star Wars: TFA — (2015; Disney) 3️⃣ Avengers: Endgame — (2019; Disney) 4️⃣ Spider-Man: NWH — (2021; Sony) 5️⃣ Avatar — (2009; Fox)

— Global Box Office (@GlobalBoxOffice) September 16, 2026

Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton and starring Holland alongside Zendaya, Sadie Sink and Jon Bernthal, ‘Brand New Day’ marks the biggest release yet for both Cretton and Zendaya. For Holland, it sits just behind ‘Endgame,’ in which he also appeared, as his highest-grossing credit overall.

Box office supremacy tends to be fleeting. ‘Avengers: Endgame’ is getting a theatrical rerelease this month, a move that could widen its global lead over ‘Brand New Day’ before the year is out. Records like these rarely stay put for long in an industry defined by constant one-upmanship.

It's about to be a Brand New Day. Get tickets now. #SpiderManBrandNewDay is in theatres July 31. pic.twitter.com/rJeJHEfdYV

— Spider-Man Movie (@SpiderManMovie) July 21, 2026

Still, having two films in the domestic top five is a different kind of achievement, one that speaks less to a single blockbuster weekend and more to sustained, franchise-wide staying power. It puts Spider-Man in a category that Marvel’s ensemble Avengers movies, for all their crossover spectacle, have not managed to reach, and that Avatar’s decade-spanning saga hasn’t matched either.

For a character that has now been rebooted multiple times across three different actors, the fact that Holland’s era alone can claim this kind of dominance says something about how deeply audiences have connected with this particular version of Peter Parker. Whether ‘Brand New Day’ can hold onto its number one ranking once ‘Endgame’ returns to theaters remains to be seen, but for now, the record books belong to Spider-Man.

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