North American cinemas took $436.6 million over the weekend of 31 July to 2 August, the largest three-day domestic frame on record, driven by the opening of Spider-Man: Brand New Day and the third weekend of Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey.
The previous record was $402.1 million, set in April 2019 during the opening weekend of Avengers: Endgame. Final actuals confirmed the figure at $436.6 million, above the range trackers had estimated over the weekend.
What drove the record?
Spider-Man: Brand New Day accounted for the bulk of it, taking $360.1 million from 4,487 screens for Sony and Marvel Studios, the largest domestic opening ever. The Odyssey added $51 million in its third weekend for Universal, a decline of 43 per cent.
Deadline put the weekend up 262 per cent on the same frame a year earlier, when Fantastic Four: First Steps led in its second weekend, and 195 per cent above the previous weekend’s $147.3 million.
| Rank | Film | 3-day | Domestic total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spider-Man: Brand New Day | $360.1m | Week 1 |
| 2 | The Odyssey | $51m | $396.5m |
| 3 | Toy Story 5 | $6.2m | $461.5m |
| 4 | Minions & Monsters | $5.6m | $168.1m |
| 5 | Moana | $5.3m | $114.7m |
What is the record for a box office weekend?
The weekend of 31 July to 2 August 2026 produced the highest three-day domestic box office total on record in North America, confirmed at $436.6 million across all films in release. It surpassed the previous record of $402.1 million, set in April 2019 during the opening weekend of Avengers: Endgame. The 2026 figure was driven by two titles: Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which opened to $360.1 million for Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios, and The Odyssey, directed by Christopher Nolan for Universal Pictures, which took $51 million in its third weekend. Final actuals were due to be reported on Monday 3 August. The Hollywood Reporter placed the 2026 domestic box office 15.2 per cent ahead of the equivalent point in 2025.
How did premium formats perform?
The two films split the premium circuit. IMAX screens were reserved for The Odyssey, leaving Spider-Man to draw on other large-format chains, where it set records. CNBC reported Dolby Cinema posted its highest-grossing domestic weekend, at $10 million, with ScreenX on $7 million and 4DX above $5.2 million domestically.
Cinema United president and chief executive Michael O’Leary said in a statement that “moviegoers across generations made this weekend one for the record books”.
What does it mean for the season?
The result lifts the summer domestic box office above $3 billion, putting the season within reach of $4 billion. A $1 billion August has been recorded only twice in North America, in 2014 and 2016, with August 2024 falling just short at more than $907 million.
Marvel Studios now holds the four largest worldwide opening weekends on record: Avengers: Endgame, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Spider-Man: No Way Home and Avengers: Infinity War. Brand New Day took $572 million internationally for a $927 million global launch, including $121 million from China, a market where the previous Tom Holland Spider-Man film was not cleared for release.
It is only the second film to open above $300 million domestically, after Endgame. Sunday returns were the deciding factor: Sony projected an $84 million Sunday against Saturday’s $101.5 million, itself the second-largest Saturday on record.
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Sources for this report
The Redline News Desk
The Redline News desk files and edits world reporting. Every story carries the sources it was built from, and corrections are published on the story itself.
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