The congratulations are coming from inside the house of mouse.
Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro used Wednesday’s quarterly earnings call to congratulate rival Sony on Spider-Man: Brand New Day, per Deadline, calling the debut an unbelievable result and saying he would be remiss not to acknowledge the record-breaking opening, name-checking Sony, Kevin Feige, and Marvel Studios.
D’Amaro says the success “bodes well” for Avengers: Doomsday, which arrives December 18 as Marvel’s first Avengers movie since 2019.
Why Disney Is Cheering For Sony
A rare cross-aisle salute between media giants, but not exactly a selfless one.
Through the long-standing arrangement between the studios, Sony holds Spider-Man’s theatrical distribution while Disney’s Marvel Studios produces the movies, and Disney cashes in on the character through consumer products, parks, and streaming. When Spidey breaks records, both giants eat.
D’Amaro leaned into exactly that, pointing to Spider-Man’s strength 65 years after his debut across every division Disney runs, and framing the box office as proof audiences still show up in force when a theatrical event actually earns it.
He has the receipts to point to: the biggest opening in box office history at $360 million and the second-fastest billion ever.
The Doomsday Confidence Campaign Is On
Doomsday faces the exact setup Spidey just conquered: a monster December release running on premium large formats while IMAX belongs to Dune: Part Three.
Brand New Day proving the format optional, with a wheelbarrow of records, is the best pre-sale argument Disney could ask for.
Marvel is even sending the freshly dethroned Endgame back to theaters in September with new Doomsday footage to keep the hype rolling into December.
Worth savoring: even in the story about Disney’s CEO celebrating a record-shattering superhero week, the trade coverage still describes the genre as being in decline across the board.
Well, that “decline” just posted the biggest opening, the biggest Monday, the biggest Tuesday, and the fastest $400 million in history. The eulogy keeps getting reprinted while the corpse buys out theaters.
Avengers: Doomsday opens December 18, 2026. Follow the road there at our Avengers: Doomsday hub and every Brand New Day record at the Spider-Man: Brand New Day guide.
