Box Office Records Shattered by Spider-Man: Brand New Day
Spider-Man: Brand New Day, the latest installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, has broken box office records with its impressive Thursday night previews, surpassing the $50 million mark set by its predecessor, Spider-Man: No Way Home. This achievement solidifies Brand New Day’s position as the third-best U.S./Canada previews ever for a theatrical release, the best previews ever for a Sony movie, and the best previews post-COVID.
The Destin Daniel Cretton-directed Spider-Man sequel began showtimes at 12 noon on Thursday, with its preview cash including Wednesday night’s Prime Video member screening. Some sources indicate that Brand New Day’s preview money tonight exceeded that of Avengers: Endgame, although this will be confirmed by tomorrow morning.
Comparing Previews to Opening Weekend Performance
No Way Home’s $50 million in previews only represented 41% of its $121.96 million first Friday, resulting in the second-best opening ever at the domestic box office with $260.1 million, behind Avengers: Endgame’s all-time high of $357.1 million. In contrast, Force Awakens’ $57 million in previews accounted for 48% of its first Friday, which was $119.1 million. At one point, Force Awakens held the all-time opening record in North America with a 3-day start of $247.96, but it eventually fell to fourth.
NRG had a low domestic opening estimate of $195 million for Brand New Day, but exhibitors and other tracking services, such as Greenlight Analytics, believe it is significantly higher, ranging from $260 million to even $300 million.
Some analysts argue that the start time for the previews and the time of year should be taken into account before making forecasts. However, the sheer amount of money generated by Brand New Day’s previews, exceeding the previous post-COVID preview record of $38.5 million held by Deadpool & Wolverine two Julys ago, makes it clear that this is a ton of money and a significant achievement.
Brand New Day has also raked in this cash without the help of Imax screens, a feature that was seen in the previous movie, Barbie, three years ago, as well as Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day’s Strong Critical and Audience Reception
The movie has received strong critical acclaim, with a Rotten Tomatoes critical score of 90% certified fresh, just under the 93% of No Way Home. Additionally, Brand New Day has the best Rotten Tomatoes audience score out of the nine live-action Spider-Man movies with 98%.
Given its impressive performance, it is no surprise that some analysts are predicting a $300 million opening weekend for Brand New Day, with Orlando holding back on saying a $300 million opening weekend but predicting a high opening weekend exceeding $230 million to $250 million.
