Spider-Man: Brand New Day Officially Tops Tom Cruise’s Biggest Box Office Hit

At the start of the year, if you were to look at the list of the five highest-grossing films of all time at the domestic box office, it would mostly consist of titles you’d expect. The lineup of top earners includes a Star Wars film that was released to unparalleled hype (The Force Awakens), a pair of major Marvel event movies (Avengers: Endgame and Spider-Man: No Way Home), and a James Cameron blockbuster (Avatar). The fifth movie on that list might have come as a surprise. Top Gun: Maverick, legacy sequel to 1986’s Top Gun, has earned $721.9 million domestically, making it one of only seven movies in history to earn $700+ million in North America. For four years, it rounded out the all-time domestic top five, but now it’s slid down the charts.

According to Deadline, the box office dominance of Spider-Man: Brand New Day is set to continue this weekend. The latest Marvel release is projected to earn $67 million domestically in its third weekend, which would increase its lifetime total to $782.8 million. Obviously, that is significantly more than Top Gun: Maverick and puts Brand New Day on the precipice of climbing even higher on the chart:

How Much Higher Can Brand New Day‘s Box Office Go?

Spider-Man: Brand New Day hasn’t even been in theaters for a full month yet, so it’s only a matter of time before it becomes just the fourth movie ever to hit $800+ million domestically and claim the title of highest-grossing Spider-Man movie. Assuming it performs in line with its current weekend projections, roughly only $32 million will separate Brand New Day from No Way Home. Barring something unforeseen, Brand New Day should move up into third place on the all-time chart at some point during the next week. The only real drama remaining is whether or not it can pass Endgame or The Force Awakens by the end of its run.

Using this weekend’s projections, there’s a very good chance Brand New Day moves past Endgame to become the highest-grossing Marvel movie ever by the end of next weekend. If Brand New Day stands at $782.8 million after this Sunday, then it will need only $75.5 million more to beat Endgame, which would be an incredible accomplishment. Endgame was the culmination of the MCU’s Infinity Saga, wrapping up 11 years of storylines and character arcs in an epic crossover event. Brand New Day is a critically acclaimed blockbuster, but it’s “just” a Spider-Man movie, making it smaller in scope when compared to something like an Avengers film. It illustrates the tremendous drawing power of the Spider-Man brand. The web head is clearly Marvel’s most popular character, able to headline a $2 billion tentpole all by himself. Brand New Day‘s performance has been surprising to some, but after No Way Home nearly hit $2 billion during the pandemic, perhaps we should have expected this.

Some projections have Brand New Day poised to become the first film in history to gross $1 billion domestically, which would far exceed The Force Awakens‘ gross. Spider-Man still has a bit of a climb to get there, but it’s doable because the new releases in August aren’t leaving much of an impression. Despite earning positive reviews, original sci-fi film The End of Oak Street isn’t shaping up to be much of a draw; it’s estimated to gross around $20 million domestically, and it might have to settle for fourth place in its opening weekend (behind Paw Patrol: Dino Movie, The Odyssey, and Brand New Day). The rest of the month has titles like Insidious: Out of the Further and The Dog Stars on the way, but nothing is expected to be a massive, four-quadrant blockbuster that can truly put a dent in Brand New Day‘s business.

As we wait to see how much more Brand New Day will make, seeing Spider-Man officially pass Top Gun: Maverick gives cinephiles an opportunity to reflect on the latter’s remarkable box office run. No Way Home came out a handful of months prior, but for many, Maverick was the first major “movie theaters are back!” event spectacle following the pandemic. Steven Spielberg went so far as to crediting Maverick with saving the theatrical industry, and the Top Gun sequel went on to earn a Best Picture nomination. Brand New Day may have topped it, but there’s no denying Top Gun: Maverick is one of the most significant releases of the decade.