Tom Holland, Zendaya and Sadie Sink’s blockbuster Spider-Man: Brand New Day is closing in fast on the record set by Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens as the highest-grossing film domestically of all time.
Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, the fourth solo Spider-Man film starring Holland as Peter Parker/Spidey has been blazing new trails since its opening weekend, July 31 to Aug. 2, when it earned $360.1 million from 4,487 North American theaters to top Avengers: Endgame’s record ($357.1 million, set in 2019) as the biggest domestic opening of all time.
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Then, on Aug. 9 — only 17 days into its release — Brand New Day made more history by becoming the eighth film in movie history to cross the $2 billion mark at the global box office. As of Tuesday, the film has earned $2.411 billion worldwide, with $924.9 million of that massive box office take coming from North American theaters.
On Sept. 4, Brand New Day became only the second film in history to pass the $900 million mark at the domestic box office — a feat that belonged solely to The Force Awakens, which was released on Dec. 18, 2015.
Zendaya and Tom Holland in “Spider-Man: Brand New Day.”
‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ Currently Needs About $12.8 Million To Top The Domestic Record Set By ‘The Force Awakens’
Star Wars – Episode VII: The Force Awakens is the first movie in the Star Wars sequel trilogy. Directed by J.J. Abrams and starring Daisy Ridley, John Boyega and Oscar Isaac, The Force Awakens marked the first Star Wars film produced by Disney since the movie studio and theme park conglomerate purchased founder George Lucas’ Lucasfilm for $4.05 billion in October 2012.
There was obviously a lot of excitement surrounding the return of Star Wars to the big screen with The Force Awakens in 2015, given that it had been 10 1/2 years since Lucas had released Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith — the last film in the franchise’s prequel trilogy — on May 19, 2005.
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The Force Awakens got off to a fast start at the domestic box office in 2015, earning $247.9 million from 4.134 North American theaters from Dec. 18-20. The film wrapped its domestic run in the spring of 2016 with a domestic tally of $936,660,090. Combined with the film’s $1.131 billion in international ticket sales, The Force Awakens finished with a worldwide box office gross of $2.068 billion.
As of Wednesday, Sony Pictures Entertainment’s Marvel film, with its current running domestic tally at $924.9 million, is about $12.7 million behind The Force Awakens all-time domestic box office record of $936.6 million.
Given that Brand New Day is still playing in 3,520 North American theaters — an extraordinarily high number of venues for a film 40 days into its release (that’s more than Avengers: Endgame and The Force Awakens) — it’s not a matter of if the film will break The Force Awakens’ domestic record, but when.
Tom Holland in “Spider-Man Brand New Day.”
‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ Should Set The Domestic Box Office Record This Weekend
A positive indicator that it will be sooner rather than later is Spider-Man: Brand New Day’s performance in its sixth weekend frame, as the film made $18.1 million from Sept. 4-6, marking a 19% drop in business from its fifth weekend in theaters. On top of that, Brand New Day earned another $5.5 million on Labor Day and $1.5 million on Tuesday, which brings the film to its current tally of $924.9 million.
Right now, it looks like Brand New Day will be the new domestic box office record-holder by the end of this weekend. Following its $1.5 million take on Tuesday — the lowest one-day total for the film during its entire run — Brand New Day, conservatively, should earn at least $1 million in North American theaters on both Wednesday and Thursday. If that’s the case, it will boost the film’s running domestic tally to $926.9 million.
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Taking those projections into account, Brand New Day could drop 45% in business from the $18.5 million the film made Sept. 4-6 and still earn enough (roughly $10.2 million) to bring its domestic tally to $937.1 million; just enough to eclipse The Force Awakens’ current record of $936.6 million.
Of course, that huge of a drop is unlikely, even with a formidable competitor in Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman’s Practical Magic 2 opening this weekend. Spider-Man: Brand New Day is too busy to worry about any new competition, though, since it has demonstrated since July 31 that it has the power to spin enough magic of its own. Even if Spidey doesn’t set the new record by Sunday, surely it will happen sometime next week.
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This article was originally published on Forbes.com