‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ Just Passed ‘Star Wars’ to Become One of the Five Biggest Movies Ever

Tom Holland’s fourth solo outing as Spider-Man was never expected to be a modest earner, but few could have predicted just how thoroughly ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ would rewrite the box office record books. Since opening on July 31, the film has spent nearly every week of its release setting a new milestone, one after another, at a pace that has stunned even seasoned industry trackers.

The film’s momentum has been especially remarkable given that it arrived without the multiversal spectacle that turned 2021’s ‘No Way Home’ into a generational event. Instead, ‘Brand New Day’ leaned into a more grounded story for Peter Parker, and audiences worldwide responded anyway, pushing the film past $2 billion globally in just three weeks, the second-fastest film in history to reach that mark behind only ‘Avengers: Endgame.’

That run has now carried ‘Brand New Day’ past one of the industry’s most stubborn benchmarks. The film has officially surpassed 2015’s ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ and its $2.071 billion worldwide total, making ‘Brand New Day’ the fifth highest-grossing film of all time globally, not adjusted for inflation.

The film’s third weekend alone brought in another $70 million, marking the second-best third weekend in box office history behind only ‘The Force Awakens’ itself. That pushed its domestic total past $785 million, making it the fourth highest-grossing domestic film ever, trailing only ‘The Force Awakens,’ ‘Avengers: Endgame,’ and ‘No Way Home,’ while sitting ahead of ‘Avatar.’

International audiences have driven a huge share of that success, with roughly 60 percent of the film’s worldwide total coming from overseas markets. ‘Brand New Day’ has already become Sony’s biggest release of all time and the highest-grossing Hollywood movie in Indian box office history, with China currently leading all international territories ahead of the U.K., Mexico, and India.

Domestically, the film has also been chasing ‘The Force Awakens’ on a separate front. ‘Brand New Day’ reached $800 million in North America in just 19 days, beating the previous record of 23 days set by the Star Wars sequel, and becoming only the fourth film ever to cross that threshold domestically.

With ‘The Force Awakens’ now in its rearview mirror, attention has shifted to the four films still ahead of ‘Brand New Day’ on the all-time global chart: ‘Titanic,’ ‘Avatar: The Way of Water,’ ‘Avengers: Endgame,’ and ‘Avatar.’ Passing ‘Titanic’ appears to be well within reach given the film’s current pace, while ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ represents a more significant next target.

The bigger question hovering over the film’s remaining run is whether it can eventually challenge ‘Avengers: Endgame’ for the title of highest-grossing superhero movie of all time. That would require clearing a gap of several hundred million dollars, a tall order even for a film performing this far above expectations, but not an impossible one if its current trajectory holds through the fall.

For a franchise many assumed had already peaked with ‘No Way Home,’ ‘Brand New Day’ has instead proven Spider-Man’s box office ceiling is higher than anyone anticipated. Whether it ultimately climbs into the top three or simply holds steady at fifth, the film has already cemented itself as one of the defining box office stories of the year.

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