Tom Holland as Peter Parker/Spider-Man and Jacob Batalon as Ned Leeds reprise their roles in “Spider-Man: Brand New Day.”
Rafu Wire Service and Staff Reports
“Spider-Man: Brand New Day” raked in $355 million this weekend to post the second-best opening ever in North America, according to industry estimates released Aug. 2.
The Columbia Pictures/Marvel Studios release is the fourth Spider-Man film to star Tom Holland, who took over the role previously played by Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maquire. It was directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, and also stars Holland’s real-life wife Zendaya.
The crown for all-time best domestic opening still belongs to 2019’s “Avengers: Endgame,” however, which took in $357 million in its first weekend in theaters in the U.S. and Canada. “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” took in $927 million worldwide, also the second-best opening weekend behind “Avengers: Endgame,” which made $1.2 billion.
“The Odyssey” was second with $51 million in its third weekend and has now grossed a little shy of $400 million domestically, Rentrak reported.
“Toy Story 5” was third with $6.3 million Friday through Sunday in its seventh weekend.
“Minions & Monsters” was fourth with $5.8 million in its fifth week, followed by the live-action “Moana,” which grossed $5.3 million in its fourth weekend.
Sixth place went to “Hadestown: The Musical,” a filmed recording of the Broadway sensation by Anais Mitchell, which made $2 million in its second weekend.
Rounding out the top 10 releases were “The Invite” ($1.2 million), Gregg Araki’s “I Want Your Sex” ($600,000), “Young Washington” ($477,727) and “Obsession” ($470,000).
Destin Yori Daniel Cretton, 47, is known for directing the drama films “The Glass Castle” (2017) and “Just Mercy” (2019) as well as the Marvel Studios film “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” (2021), which featured a mostly Asian cast, and TV series “Wonder Man” (2026).
Born and raised in Haiku, Hawaii, on the island of Maui, to a Japanese American mother and Caucasian father, Cretton moved to San Diego to attend Point Loma Nazarene University, where he majored in communications. He graduated from film school with an MFA at San Diego State University.
While at SDSU, he won a Jury Prize in Shortfilmmaking at Sundance for his short film “Short Term 12.” A feature adaptation of the film premiered at South by Southwest in 2013 and won the Grand Jury Award and Audience Award for narrative feature. Cretton then rewrote the script for and directed “The Glass Castle,” starring Brie Larson, Woody Harrelson and Naomi Watts and based on Jeannette Walls’ best-selling memoir of the same name.
“Just Mercy,” which premiered in 2019 to critical acclaim, was based on civil rights attorney Bryan Stevenson’s best-selling memoir and starred Michael B. Jordan.
Cretton said that he directed “Shang-Chi,” whose cast included Simu Liu, Awkwafina, Tony Leung, Benedict Wong and Michelle Yeoh, because he wanted to give his son “a superhero to look up to.” He is currently working on a sequel.
His other credits include executive producing “Tokyo Vice”; executive producing and directing episodes of “American Born Chinese”; executive producing Lloyd Lee Choi’s short film “Same Old”; and producing “Lucky Lu,” a feature adaptation of “Same Old.”