‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ Is Already Obliterating the First Two DCU Movies Combined Overseas

China has spent years being one of the toughest markets for Hollywood superhero movies to crack, and that reputation has only gotten worse in the years since the pandemic reshaped moviegoing habits worldwide. Superhero fatigue, shrinking screen access, and shifting political tensions have combined to make the region one of the trickiest theatrical puzzles for any major franchise release.

That struggle has been especially visible for DC Studios lately. James Gunn’s ‘Superman‘ managed a respectable global run overall, but its China performance told a very different story, pulling in just 22 million dollars in the country despite an on-the-ground promotional push from Gunn himself. Its follow-up, ‘Supergirl,’ fared even worse, opening to a reported 311,000 dollars on its first Friday and getting pulled from theaters shortly after.

Against that backdrop, ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ appears to be rewriting the script entirely. According to tracking from Maoyan, China’s largest ticketing platform, the film’s presale and advance screening revenue had already crossed 11.34 million dollars with two days still remaining before release, a figure that alone edges past what Superman and Supergirl managed to combine for during their entire theatrical runs in the country.

BREAKING: Spider-man Brand New Day’s presale(T-2) in China has already surpassed the combined total gross of DCU’s first two movies-Superman and Supergirl . Source: Maoyan Pro
by u/MX_KbillX in boxoffice

That kind of advance demand marks a dramatic reversal for Marvel in a market that has repeatedly disappointed studios in recent years. According to reporting on Chinese box office tracking, the film has already surpassed the entire presale totals posted by both ‘Deadpool and Wolverine’ and ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3,’ setting a new post-pandemic record for comic book movie advance sales in the country.

Much of that momentum appears directly tied to the film’s promotional tour. Tom Holland and Zendaya made an in-person stop in Shanghai as part of their global press run, joining previous stops in Madrid, Berlin, Rome, Paris, London, and Mexico City, and presales reportedly accelerated noticeably in the days immediately following that visit.

Industry trackers have taken notice of just how significant this shift could be. Some projections now suggest ‘Brand New Day’ could become the first live-action Hollywood release since ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ to cross 100 million dollars during its opening weekend in China, with some estimates placing the total opening weekend haul as high as 130 to 155 million dollars, positioning it as Hollywood’s biggest live-action debut in the country since ‘Avengers: Endgame.’

That potential milestone carries extra significance given the franchise’s own complicated history with Chinese audiences. ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ never even played in Chinese theaters due to controversy surrounding a Statue of Liberty scene in the film, cutting the franchise off entirely from one of the world’s largest markets during its most commercially dominant chapter.

With that restriction no longer in play for ‘Brand New Day,’ the film finally has a real opportunity to test just how much pent-up demand exists for Peter Parker’s story in China. Domestically, the film has also posted the best first-day presales of any release in five years, previously a record held by ‘No Way Home’ itself, according to Fandango tracking.

With numbers like these piling up before a single ticket has even been scanned for the wide release, ‘Spider-Man Brand New Day’ looks positioned to become one of the defining box office stories of the year, both at home and internationally. For a franchise that has struggled in China as recently as its last outing, that kind of turnaround would be a genuinely remarkable achievement.

‘Spider-Man Brand New Day’ releases in China on July 29 and worldwide on July 31.

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