Spider-Man: Brand New Day box office previews hit record $72 million

Sony and Marvel’s Spider-Man: Brand New Day box office run opened with $72 million in domestic preview ticket sales, CNBC reported, setting a Hollywood record for preview grosses. The figure gives theaters a major late-summer release as the domestic box office continues to trail pre-pandemic levels.

CNBC reported that the previous domestic preview record belonged to 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, which took in $60 million before its opening weekend. Brand New Day built its total from Wednesday early-access screenings and Thursday night previews.

Paul Dergarabedian, head of marketplace trends at Rentrak, told CNBC the result showed unusually strong demand from moviegoers for the latest Marvel release. He also cautioned that previews can be concentrated among the most eager fans, which can affect how the rest of the weekend plays out.

How much did Spider-Man: Brand New Day make in previews?

Spider-Man: Brand New Day made $72 million in domestic previews, according to CNBC. Preview sales are tickets sold for early showings before the standard Friday start of a movie’s opening weekend, and studios use them as an early signal of audience demand.

CNBC reported that the film is expected to earn about $270 million domestically across its first weekend, with some box office analysts projecting a higher finish. That would put the new Spider-Man movie ahead of 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home, which opened to $260 million domestically, according to CNBC.

The film is still expected to finish below Avengers: Endgame, CNBC reported. Endgame brought in $357 million over its first three days in domestic theaters in 2019, helped by around-the-clock and added screenings.

Premium screens will help, even without Imax

CNBC reported that Brand New Day is playing without an Imax release because those screens are committed to Christopher Nolan and Universal’s The Odyssey. The Spider-Man film still has access to other premium formats, including ScreenX, 4DX, Dolby Cinema and HDR by Barco.

The movie is also playing in premium auditoriums run by AMC, Regal, Cinemark and regional theater chains, CNBC reported. ScreenX accounted for $1.8 million in domestic Thursday ticket sales and is expected to reach $4 million for the weekend, while 4DX has taken in about $1.3 million domestically and is projected to reach $4.5 million over the three-day debut.

The timing could help August, which CNBC described as the softest month of the summer movie season. Because Brand New Day opened at the end of July, much of its overall run will count toward August ticket sales.

CNBC reported that the domestic box office had reached $5.6 billion for the year through Sunday, 16% below 2019, the last full benchmark year before Covid disrupted theaters and film production. The summer season was closer to its 2019 pace, at $3.05 billion compared with $3.36 billion seven years earlier, a 9% gap.

That difference could shrink if Brand New Day keeps drawing audiences and Imax continues extended screenings of The Odyssey into September, CNBC reported. The release calendar later this year includes Lionsgate’s The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping in November, followed by Warner Bros.’ Dune: Part Three and Disney’s Avengers: Doomsday on Dec. 18.

This story draws on original reporting from CNBC.