‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ Closes In On ‘The Force Awakens’ All-Time Box Office Record

Sony and Marvel had every reason to feel confident heading into ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’s’ release this summer, but even the most optimistic projections couldn’t have predicted just how historic this theatrical run would ultimately become. Tom Holland’s fourth outing as Peter Parker opened to a record-shattering $360.1 million weekend, immediately signaling that this wasn’t going to be a typical Spider-Man release.

That momentum has continued almost uninterrupted for nearly two months now, with the film setting one milestone after another at a pace that’s genuinely rare for modern blockbusters. Rather than the usual steep drop-off after opening weekend, ‘Brand New Day’ has held the top spot at the domestic box office for six consecutive weekends, defying the typical playbook for how a superhero film’s theatrical life is supposed to unfold.

That staying power has now brought the film within striking distance of box office history. ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ added $2 million on its seventh Friday in theaters, pushing its domestic total to $928.8 million and putting it roughly $8.5 million away from becoming the highest-grossing movie of all time at the North American box office.

The current record belongs to 2015’s ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens,’ which has held the all-time domestic crown with $936.6 million for more than a decade. Based on current projections, ‘Brand New Day’ is on pace to hit roughly $935 million by Sunday, putting the record-breaking moment on track to arrive sometime around September 16 or 17.

‘Brand New Day’s’ pursuit of ‘The Force Awakens’ record has felt inevitable for weeks now, given just how quickly the film has blown past every previous benchmark along the way. It became the fastest film in history to cross $800 million domestically, reaching that mark in just 19 days compared to ‘The Force Awakens’s’ previous record of 23 days.

The film kept that pace going as it approached $900 million, crossing that threshold in only 36 days versus the 50 days ‘The Force Awakens’ needed to get there. That made ‘Brand New Day’ just the second film ever to cross $900 million domestically, a distinction that had belonged exclusively to the 2015 Star Wars sequel for nearly a decade.

Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, ‘Brand New Day’ also brought Holland’s Spider-Man to $2 billion worldwide earlier this month, becoming the eighth film in history to reach that milestone and surpassing ‘No Way Home’ as Sony’s highest-grossing release ever. The film’s ensemble includes Zendaya, Sadie Sink, Jacob Batalon, Jon Bernthal, Tramell Tillman, and Mark Ruffalo in an extended cameo as Bruce Banner.

‘The Force Awakens,’ directed by J.J. Abrams, first set its domestic benchmark back in December 2015 during Disney and Lucasfilm’s high-profile relaunch of the Star Wars franchise following the studio’s $4.05 billion acquisition of Lucasfilm. The film went on to gross more than $2 billion worldwide, making its decade-long hold on the domestic crown all the more significant given how few films have come anywhere close to matching it since.

‘Brand New Day’s’ remarkably consistent word of mouth has proven key to sustaining this kind of long-term box office run, especially given that it followed the multiverse-spanning spectacle of ‘No Way Home,’ a film many assumed would be difficult to top. Instead, audiences responded strongly to a more grounded, character-focused Spider-Man story, helping the film maintain steady weekend holds rather than the rapid decline that usually follows a franchise’s biggest openings.

With the finish line now just days away, ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ appears all but certain to become the highest-grossing domestic release of all time in the very near future. Given how much further ahead of pace this film has stayed compared to every previous record holder, there’s a real possibility its eventual total could push well past the $936.6 million mark entirely.

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