‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ Just Made Box Office History That Even ‘Avengers: Endgame’ Couldn’t Touch

Summer box office records have a way of feeling untouchable right up until the moment someone breaks them. For years, that’s exactly how industry watchers talked about a specific number tied to ‘Avengers: Endgame,’ a preview figure so massive it seemed destined to stand forever.

That assumption held for seven years, through pandemic disruptions, superhero fatigue discourse, and plenty of would-be contenders that came close but never quite got there. Tom Holland’s return to the role of Peter Parker was always going to be a major box office event, but few predicted it would take aim at Marvel’s most sacred number on night one.

Now that number has fallen. ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ pulled in a record-breaking $72 million from Thursday preview screenings, including early access showings that began Wednesday night, officially surpassing the $60 million previews record set by ‘Avengers: Endgame’ back in 2019.

The scale of that achievement becomes clearer when stacked against the rest of box office history. ‘Brand New Day’s’ $72 million now sits atop the all-time previews leaderboard, ahead of ‘Endgame’s’ $60 million, ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ at $57 million, ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ at $50 million and ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ at $45 million.

It’s also worth noting just how thoroughly this outpaces recent competition within the same calendar year. Universal’s ‘The Odyssey’ previously led 2026 previews with $17.6 million, followed by ‘Toy Story 5’ at $17.5 million and ‘Michael’ at $12.6 million, numbers that ‘Brand New Day’ didn’t just beat but nearly quintupled.

There are some important caveats worth weighing before crowning this an apples-to-apples victory over ‘Endgame,’ though. ‘Endgame’ had a more traditional Thursday preview window that started at 6 PM across a smaller number of theaters, while ‘Brand New Day’ effectively had a full day of sessions starting early afternoon and playing across more than 4,000 theatres, on top of officially labeled Wednesday preview showings folded into its total.

‘Endgame’ also had one advantage ‘Brand New Day’ currently lacks: full IMAX access during its previews, while Sony’s film is sharing remaining premium large format screens with ‘The Odyssey,’ which still holds an exclusive domestic IMAX run. That means ‘Brand New Day’ put up this historic number without access to the format that typically drives some of the biggest per-screen numbers in the business.

That context matters because ‘Endgame’ still holds the all-time opening weekend record with $357 million domestically. Sony and Marvel’s ‘Brand New Day’ is aiming to make between $260 million and $280 million in its opening weekend, which would make it the second biggest launch of all time, putting it well behind ‘Endgame’ but ahead of every other film in the character’s history, including ‘No Way Home’s’ $260.1 million debut.

Whether or not ‘Brand New Day’ can eventually catch ‘Endgame’ at the very top of the all-time chart, breaking its previews record alone marks a genuine milestone for a franchise that many assumed had already peaked with ‘No Way Home’ back in 2021. The fact that it did so without full IMAX support only adds to how remarkable Thursday night’s numbers actually are.

With reviews holding strong and no major competition standing in its way for the rest of the summer, ‘Brand New Day’ now has every ingredient in place to turn this preview record into one of the biggest opening weekends Hollywood has ever seen. The only question left is just how close to ‘Endgame’ it can actually get.

What do you think about Spider-Man breaking Avengers’ all-time preview record? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Summer box office records have a way of feeling untouchable right up until the moment someone breaks them. For years, that’s exactly how industry watchers talked about a specific number tied to ‘Avengers: Endgame,’ a preview figure so massive it seemed destined to stand forever.

That assumption held for seven years, through pandemic disruptions, superhero fatigue discourse, and plenty of would-be contenders that came close but never quite got there. Tom Holland’s return to the role of Peter Parker was always going to be a major box office event, but few predicted it would take aim at Marvel’s most sacred number on night one.

Now that number has fallen. ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ pulled in a record-breaking $72 million from Thursday preview screenings, including early access showings that began Wednesday night, officially surpassing the $60 million previews record set by ‘Avengers: Endgame’ back in 2019.

The scale of that achievement becomes clearer when stacked against the rest of box office history. ‘Brand New Day’s’ $72 million now sits atop the all-time previews leaderboard, ahead of ‘Endgame’s’ $60 million, ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ at $57 million, ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ at $50 million and ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ at $45 million.

It’s also worth noting just how thoroughly this outpaces recent competition within the same calendar year. Universal’s ‘The Odyssey’ previously led 2026 previews with $17.6 million, followed by ‘Toy Story 5’ at $17.5 million and ‘Michael’ at $12.6 million, numbers that ‘Brand New Day’ didn’t just beat but nearly quintupled.

There are some important caveats worth weighing before crowning this an apples-to-apples victory over ‘Endgame,’ though. ‘Endgame’ had a more traditional Thursday preview window that started at 6 PM across a smaller number of theaters, while ‘Brand New Day’ effectively had a full day of sessions starting early afternoon and playing across more than 4,000 theatres, on top of officially labeled Wednesday preview showings folded into its total.

‘Endgame’ also had one advantage ‘Brand New Day’ currently lacks: full IMAX access during its previews, while Sony’s film is sharing remaining premium large format screens with ‘The Odyssey,’ which still holds an exclusive domestic IMAX run. That means ‘Brand New Day’ put up this historic number without access to the format that typically drives some of the biggest per-screen numbers in the business.

That context matters because ‘Endgame’ still holds the all-time opening weekend record with $357 million domestically. Sony and Marvel’s ‘Brand New Day’ is aiming to make between $260 million and $280 million in its opening weekend, which would make it the second biggest launch of all time, putting it well behind ‘Endgame’ but ahead of every other film in the character’s history, including ‘No Way Home’s’ $260.1 million debut.

Whether or not ‘Brand New Day’ can eventually catch ‘Endgame’ at the very top of the all-time chart, breaking its previews record alone marks a genuine milestone for a franchise that many assumed had already peaked with ‘No Way Home’ back in 2021. The fact that it did so without full IMAX support only adds to how remarkable Thursday night’s numbers actually are.

With reviews holding strong and no major competition standing in its way for the rest of the summer, ‘Brand New Day’ now has every ingredient in place to turn this preview record into one of the biggest opening weekends Hollywood has ever seen. The only question left is just how close to ‘Endgame’ it can actually get.

Have something to add? Let us know in the comments!