Spider-Man: Brand New Day breaks Avengers: Endgame's preview record with $72 million haul

Box office record

Spider-Man: Brand New Day collected $72 million in preview screenings, including Wednesday early access shows, surpassing Avengers: Endgame's $60 million Thursday preview record from 2019. Sony's internal tracking had offered a conservative opening weekend forecast of $190 million to $195 million, but industry estimates now point to a domestic launch between $260 million and $280 million. Some projections put the debut above $300 million.

The international rollout is expected to add another $275 million to $300 million, combining for a global start that could approach $580 million. Holland's previous outing, No Way Home, opened to $587 million worldwide. Only nine films have crossed the $200 million domestic opening threshold, and Brand New Day is tracking to become the second-highest debut ever behind Endgame ($357 million).

Grounded direction

Destin Daniel Cretton, who directed the film, insisted on a smaller-scale story rather than another multiverse spectacle. He told The New York Times he would not have accepted the job if the plan was "to go bigger." The narrative picks up four years after No Way Home, with Peter Parker entirely forgotten by MJ (Zendaya) and Ned (Jacob Batalon), living alone in a rundown apartment and pushing himself to exhaustion as Spider-Man.

Stories can always find new ways to connect with people. And I think, right now, this movie speaks to a lot of things that are happening emotionally to young people in the world and I hope they respond to that.

Cretton described the film as a return to the character's roots, focusing on isolation and ordinary struggles rather than galactic conquests. A mysterious invisible entity that controls minds serves as the antagonist, drawing Spider-Man into conflict with the government agency Damage Control and forcing him to protect MJ despite her not knowing his identity.

Critical reception

Early reviews are split. The Irish Examiner called it "Spider-Man at his best," praising the chemistry between Holland and Zendaya even with MJ's memory erased. RTE.ie, however, noted that at two and a half hours, "the formulaic contrivances creep in very quickly" and described the possession plot as uncomfortably similar to Terminator 2. The New York Times review said the movie carries too much franchise weight and feels "scattered," though it called Holland's performance "winsome and wonderfully kinetic."

Venom crossover that never was

Tom Holland told the Happy Sad Confused podcast that plans for a crossover with Tom Hardy's Venom never materialized because Sony "never found the right time." He said CEO Tom Rothman had a plan to merge the universes but creative timing didn't align. Holland echoed Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige's earlier comment that fans should "always have hope" for a future face-off.

It was in the cards... It was like, one day this will happen, and like lots of things in the creative world, it just never came to fruition.