Sony Pictures announced that “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” set a new record for the highest North American opening weekend, grossing $360 million in ticket sales from theaters in the U.S. and Canada. Initially projected to earn $355 million in its opening weekend across 4,487 theaters, the film narrowly missed surpassing the 2019 record set by “Avengers: Endgame.” However, a stronger-than-expected Sunday performance pushed the Tom Holland-led Spider-Man movie ahead of the previous record.
Tom Rothman, the chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, expressed pride in breaking records, stating, “records are made to be broken, but we will take great pride in this one, for as long as we hold it.” Prior to “Avengers: Endgame,” no movie had achieved an opening weekend exceeding $300 million domestically. The previous record holders were “Avengers: Infinity War” with a $257 million opening in 2018 and “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” with $247 million in 2015. In December 2021, despite the pandemic, the third installment in the Holland Spider-Man series, “No Way Home,” made its mark by debuting with $260 million in the U.S. on its way to a global total of $1.9 billion.
The successful combination of “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” and “The Odyssey,” featuring shared cast members Holland, Zendaya, and Jon Bernthal, contributed to an overall record-setting weekend for theaters in the U.S. and Canada. Box-office analytics company Rentrak reported that the domestic box office has seen a more than 15% increase in revenue compared to last year, totaling over $6.2 billion in ticket sales so far.