UPDATE: The record holder didn’t slow down. Brand New Day has now crossed $1 billion worldwide, the second-fastest billion in box office history behind only Endgame‘s five-day run, with the official opening actuals on the books at $360,091,572.
It’s official. The biggest opening weekend in the history of the movies belongs to Spider-Man.
Monday’s actuals are in via Deadline, and Sony and Marvel Studios’ Spider-Man: Brand New Day finished its debut at $360 million, taking down Avengers: Endgame‘s $357.1 million and ending a record reign that stood for seven years.
The $2 million cliffhanger broke Spidey’s way, and then some.
Sunday Delivered The Knockout
The estimates had Sunday penciled in at $84.2 million. The actual: $88.7 million, the second-best Sunday in box office history behind Endgame‘s $90.3 million, and more than enough to flip the record.
Look at the revised dailies and the sweep comes into focus.
Friday with previews finished at $169.8 million, the biggest single day ever. Saturday hit $101.5 million, second-best behind Endgame‘s $109.2 million. Sunday, second-best again. The $72 million preview night stands as the all-time record over Endgame‘s $60 million.
Every day of the weekend was either the best or second-best of its kind ever recorded.
The global debut was revised up as well, to $932 million, still the second-biggest worldwide opening ever behind Endgame‘s $1.22 billion.
Sony boss Tom Rothman fired off 360 million thank-yous to the filmmakers, cast, and his Sony colleagues in a Monday statement, adding, “Records are made to be broken, but we will take great pride in this one.”
The ledger now reads: Tom Holland’s biggest domestic opening, Zendaya’s biggest opening period, Destin Daniel Cretton’s biggest opening period, Sony’s biggest ever, and the Spider-Man franchise’s biggest ever. The overall marketplace also set its all-time weekend record at an updated $430 million.
And Now Spidey Gets IMAX Anyway
Here’s the twist ending to the weekend’s biggest subplot: after setting the all-time record without a single domestic IMAX screen, Brand New Day is finally getting them.
Deadline reports it was announced Monday morning that Brand New Day and The Odyssey will share the IMAX network in North America starting Thursday, August 6, and IMAX has since made it official, with tickets on sale after a $23 million overseas IMAX launch.
So the record was set with one hand tied behind its back, and now the hand is free. Spidey only had IMAX in China, Japan, and Korea, where Nolan’s epic hadn’t landed.
Deadline frames the no-IMAX record as direct hope for Avengers: Doomsday, which faces the exact same setup at Christmas, with premium large formats but no IMAX as Dune: Part Three takes the network. The blueprint doesn’t just exist anymore. It holds the all-time record.
As for the dethroned champ, Endgame isn’t staying down either.
Marvel is sending it back to theaters in September with new footage leading directly into Doomsday, and the encore run will play in IMAX, Marvel’s workaround for getting Doomsday footage onto the biggest screens months before the movie itself opens without them in December.
The Whole Industry Ate
The trickle-down was historic too.
Regal reports its biggest four-day stretch in the chain’s history from July 30 through August 2, clearing $160 million globally in box office and concessions, along with the highest spend-per-patron ever recorded in company history on sold-out collectible merchandise, food, and drinks.
Thirteen Regal locations ranked among the nation’s top 20 grossing theaters, led by Regal Irvine Spectrum, the number one theater in the country for the weekend.
CJ 4DPLEX posted the biggest opening weekend in its history with $31 million globally across ScreenX and 4DX. ScreenX, the format the movie was shot for, did $7 million domestic, 2.6 times its previous record, while 4DX pulled $5.2 million from just 77 locations at a $68,000 per-screen average, the highest of any premium format on the weekend.
Regal Times Square’s 4DX, the world’s largest, ran at 94 percent occupancy.
An all-time record 24.1 million admissions, the biggest overall weekend ever at $430 million, record concessions, and now the crown itself. The fatigued audience just bought the biggest weekend in the history of the movies.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day, now the record holder, is playing everywhere, including IMAX starting Thursday. Follow every number at the Spider-Man: Brand New Day hub.
