Spider-Man: Brand New Day has reached a box-office height that even Sony Pictures chairman Tom Rothman did not expect after the industry’s pandemic-era upheaval. The film arrived in theaters carrying the usual weight of a major Marvel release, but its early performance quickly became something larger than another superhero success story.

For Rothman, the surprise was not simply how much money the film could make, but whether audiences would ever again turn out in such numbers. Turns out, even Sony’s top brass did not see the web-slinger’s latest swing coming, especially in a box office landscape scarred and still being shaped by COVID.

Tom Rothman admits Spider-Man: Brand New Day surpassed his expectations

Tom Rothman said he never expected a post-COVID film to open above $300 million, let alone one capable of reaching the heights Spider-Man: Brand New Day has since approached.

“I didn’t think post-COVID any movie could open over $300 million or any movie could do that after COVID and all that we went through. No, I would never have had the hubris to do that,” Rothman said while speaking with Variety at the Resident Evil Fantastic Fest premiere. 

Brand New Day ultimately opened to $360.09 million domestically, according to Box Office Mojo, giving it the biggest opening weekend of 2026 so far. Its opening day alone generated $169.84 million, while its first week reached $510.09 million domestically.

The numbers, that shocked Rothman, per his interview with Variety, have continued to accumulate well beyond that opening burst. Brand New Day has now grossed approximately $935.86 million in North America and $1.52 billion internationally, taking its worldwide total to roughly $2.45 billion.

The billion-dollar domestic milestone, an amount that has also, yet again, delayed a notorious merger, is still sitting just beyond reach, but Rothman already has another record in sight.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day is closing in on domestic history

At the Resident Evil premiere, Tom Rothman was also asked whether Spider-Man: Brand New Day would cross $1 billion domestically. Even though his answer was less than certain, he was confident about something else.

“I know that in the next couple of days, at some point, it will become the highest grossing movie in the history of North America,” he confidently revealed. 

Box Office Mojo currently places Brand New Day at $935.86 million domestically, just shy of Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ $936.66 million lifetime North American gross. The film therefore does not need another $64 million to make Rothman’s immediate record prediction a reality; it needs only enough to move past that existing benchmark.

Rothman also pointed to the audience response as the moment the film’s extraordinary trajectory became apparent. He added that Sony realized its reception had matched the studio’s own enthusiasm once audiences began seeing it.

That distinction matters. The film did not merely open huge; it sustained the momentum. With $2.45 billion worldwide and a North American record within reach, Spider-Man: Brand New Day has turned Rothman’s post-COVID ceiling into the very thing he never thought he would have the “hubris” to predict.

Did Spider-Man: Brand New Day shatter your expectations? Let us know your thought in the comments.