Say it with me: Tom Holland might be the new box-office king, a “butts in seats” attraction going forward. And whether it’s being a part of Marvel or Christopher Nolan’s latest dance, he’s already amassed a multitude of records that folks like Robert Downey Jr., Zoe Saldana, Samuel L. Jackson, and Scarlett Johansson may not even touch.
So in his fourth dance with Spider-Man, he almost combated all of Avengers: Endgame records in its debut. Brand New Day had the second-biggest weekend domestic opening of $355 million, just $2 million shy of Endgame, and the second-biggest worldwide debut behind Endgame with $927 million (versus Endgame‘s $1.22 billion). Now, who knows, maybe actuals might have both tied if not Spidey just eclipses the domestic record. Spider-Man did one up on Endgame with the biggest opening day in North America, with $168 million, beating Endgame‘s $157 million (and also the Thursday night previews with $72 million versus Avengers 4‘s $60 million). Note this weekend does seem to be very frontloaded à la Star Wars: The Force Awakens, but the kids will definitely have their cake and eat it too for the weekend and in their last few weeks before school hits back up in August. And the whole trend of everyone’s friendly neighborhood Spider-Man isn’t going away so easily either, thanks to positive reviews and word-of-mouth, along with an A from CinemaScore. No doomsday scenario indeed…
Brand New Day tripled Spider-Man: Homecoming’s $117 million domestic debut and might surpass the unadjusted lifetime domestic totals of every previous pre-No Way Home Spider-Man movie by Tuesday/Wednesday. Audiences adore this incarnation of Spider-Man, and Tom Holland has been providing the goods and gravy since his debut ten years ago. Much like the Merc with the Mouth stated, he may be playing this until he’s 90. Spider-Man is the renowned superhero that folks clamor for, and yes, even more popular than the blockbuster Avengers/Earth Mightiest Heroes team-ups. Curious that a grounded-level Spider-Man film that brings back Zendaya and Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk, while also sprucing it up with Jon Bernthal’s Punisher and Sadie Sink’s Jean Grey (if you haven’t watched by now), could still beat the multiverse, major team-up crossovers, and (almost) a purple titan. Maybe that’s what happens when you program your audience since 2020 that “the multiverse has infinite storylines, and also more likelihood of busts.”
Anyway, let’s dive into the possibilities. Brand New Day will be passing $1 billion imminently, and the question is how fast it will charge to $2 billion. If it (hypothetically) legs like No Way Home did nearly five years ago, Tom Holland’s fourth ride will earn a whopping $1.1 billion in North America, which skyrockets it past Endgame and The Force Awakens in the United States and Canada. However, noting frontloading, even a case of doing similar business to bring it around $850-950 million domestic still means it passes one, if not both, exclusive titles. With the reins in for China (which did not distribute the third Tom Holland outing), we could be looking at a comfortable $2.3-2.5 billion worldwide gross, which would be the third-best of all time. If it legs out even better than expected, it’ll flirt with Avengers: Endgame‘s $2.797 billion lifetime total (even if there’s a re-release in September). Could we see a scenario of it charging that far and well, maybe seeing if it could tackle Avatar? Ask this writer again next weekend. In any case, Tom Holland’s Spider-Man is everyone’s favorite, and in some cases, more popular than all the other Marvel heroes Disney has in their back pocket.
In other Tom Holland/Zendaya/Jon Bernthal-related news, Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey earned $51 million in its third weekend, passing $395.5 million domestically and $911.3 million worldwide. Yup, it zoomed past Oppenheimer ($330 million), American Sniper ($350 million), and The Passion of the Christ ($370 million) to become the second-biggest R-rated movie ever in North America. Perhaps even more impressively, it is now outpacing Tom Cruise’s super-smash legacy sequel Top Gun: Maverick, although that seems preposterous to conceive it could flirt with $719 million domestic. Based on the legs of Nolan’s big projects, $585-600 million domestic still seems a good probability. Oh yeah, and the near 3-hour biopic will be passing $1 billion this week as well, so the whole golden trio is reveling in some serious honors and lotus flowers. If Dune: Part Three also earns $1 billion, Zendaya and her agents might need to soar on rainbows.
Toy Story 5 has passed $461 million domestically in its sixth weekend. It will do its utmost to reach $500 million domestically, though it may be a bridge too far. It will hold its crown as the highest-grossing film of the year until Spidey and Nolan take over in the next week or so. Minions & Monsters has been doing better with post-debut legs and has already passed $427 million worldwide. In a similar boat, Moana earned $5.3 million this weekend and will be passing $250 million worldwide later this week.
Hadestown: The Musical earned $2 million in its second weekend, while The Invite has passed $32 million worldwide. I Want Your Sex debuted with little mainstream services in a losing battle against Marvel and Nolan, and only earned $600k. And Young Washington may get close to $50 million once all is said and done.
Last note: Spidey’s release in July helped it push past $1.2 billion, which is a month-of-July total that ranks alongside 2017, 2018, and 2024. It did take a webslinger to soar to the skies for that last push.
Next weekend sees the release of One Night Only, Super Troopers 3, Tony, Late Fame, and Ice Cream Man.
