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NEW YORK – Even as temperatures drop, the box office is heating up with the explosive success of “Spider-Man: Brand New Day.” Within just its second weekend, the Sony-Marvel blockbuster swung to a staggering $144.5 million domestically, as per Sunday’s studio estimates. Meanwhile, Christopher Nolan’s cinematic journey, “The Odyssey,” is also blazing trails with a new personal milestone for the storied director.
Not even two weeks into its run, “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” is weaving its web across a global audience, amassing a jaw-dropping $1.67 billion worldwide. Stateside, this superhero spectacle is setting records as the fastest to reach such heights, pulling in $655.1 million from U.S. and Canadian theaters thus far. Internationally, the film has leapfrogged beyond the $1 billion mark, captivating audiences around the globe.
It’s no small feat that just seven days in, “Brand New Day” claimed the title of highest-grossing film of the year, leaving “Toy Story 5” ($1.07 billion globally) in its wake. This superhero flick has set a new precedent for Sony, never before has one of their films crossed the $100 million threshold during a second weekend. Almost dethroning the reigning champ of sophomore weekends, “The Force Awakens,” which set the bar with $149.2 million back in 2015, it’s clear that “Brand New Day” is in a league of its own.
Not to be left in the shadows, Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” is marking its own success story, surpassing the $1 billion bar. In its fourth weekend, this Universal Pictures offering added a solid $31.5 million domestically, pushing its global tally to $1.1 billion.
For Nolan, this Homeric epic represents a crowning achievement—the filmmaker’s first venture past the billion-dollar milestone since “The Dark Knight Rises” graced screens in 2012. With this accomplishment, “The Odyssey” stands as Nolan’s most significant box office triumph to date, rising above both “The Dark Knight Rises” ($1.08 billion) and “The Dark Knight” ($1 billion) without factoring in inflation. Meanwhile, Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” concluded its run just shy of the billion-dollar mark, closing with $975 million.
A big part of that success, of course, has been on IMAX. With $147.3 million domestically on the company’s large-format screens, “The Odyssey” now ranks as IMAX’s highest grossing domestic release of all time.
“The Odyssey” still has one major market left. It opens in China on Friday.
“Spider-Man: Brand New Day” and “The Odyssey” have helped drive Hollywood to its best box-office year since the pandemic. Ticket sales are running 18.5% ahead of last year, according to Rentrak. There have already been five $1 billion movies — more than any year since 2019. The other two were “Michael” and “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.”
Rentrak forecasts that the overall summer theatrical revenue will reach $4 billion on Monday. That seasonal mark has long been a sign of thriving business for Hollywood. Since the pandemic, the only summer to surpass $4 billion was 2023, when “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” drove ticket sales.
According to Rentrak, summer revenue is just $14.8 million shy of $4 billion through Sunday.
A pair of comedies tried to provide some counterprogramming to the blockbusters but made little impact.
“One Night Only,” a Will Gluck-directed romantic comedy where premarital sex is outlawed except for one night a year, opened with $5.7 million. The Universal release, starring Monica Barbaro and Callum Turner, cost about $25 million to make. Reviews weren’t good (46% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) but audience scores (a “B+” CinemaScore) were better.
Coming in fourth was Fox Searchlight’s “Super Troopers 3,” the third in the long-running comedy series from the comedy troupe Broken Lizard. It debuted with $4 million.
Two new limited releases packed theaters. A24’s “Tony,” starring Dominic Sessa as a young Anthony Bourdain, grossed $348,955, good for one of the best screen-average openings of the year: $58,159 per theater. Mubi’s “Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma,” from “I Saw the TV Glow” filmmaker Jane Schoenbrun, debuted with a per-location average of $50,300 across five screens.
Top 10 movies by domestic box office
With final domestic figures being released Monday, this list factors in the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Rentrak:
1. “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” $145 million.
2. “The Odyssey,” $31.5 million.
3. “One Night Only,” $5.7 million.
4. “Super Troopers 3,” $4 million.
5. “Toy Story 5,” $3.9 million.
6. “Minions & Monsters,” $3.5 million.
7. “Moana,” $2.8 million.
8. “Ice Cream Man,” $2 million.
9. “The Invite,” $717,568.
10. CatVideoFest 2026, $568,414.
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