Spider-Man: Brand New Day overtakes The Force Awakens at the North American box office

Spider-Man: Brand New Day has overtaken Star Wars: The Force Awakens to become the highest-grossing film in North America by nominal domestic box office, with $936.773 million reported for the Tom Holland sequel. The Force Awakens finished on $936 million in 2015, according to IGN, citing Variety.

Spider-Man Brand New Day box office passes The Force Awakens

The result gives Spider-Man: Brand New Day the top spot on the unadjusted North American chart. It does not make the film the most successful in inflation-adjusted terms: The Force Awakens opened 11 years ago, when ticket prices were lower, and older films sit on a different scale.

The Spider-Man: Brand New Day box office comparison is also separate from the record for the biggest domestic opening weekend. Brand New Day opened to $360.1 million in North America, above Avengers: Endgame’s $357 million, according to Variety. Box Office Mojo lists the film at $935.17 million domestically in its latest indexed figures, so box-office totals may move as late grosses are reported.

Why the film has travelled so far

Sony Pictures chief Tom Rothman told IGN that the sequel connected because it was “not so much a superhero film, but a super-person film”. The story centres on Peter Parker living without the friends and family erased from public memory at the end of Spider-Man: No Way Home.

IGN also reports a worldwide total of $2.4 billion, placing Brand New Day behind Avatar and Avengers: Endgame on the global chart. The film’s domestic lead over The Force Awakens is therefore a nominal-gross record, not a claim that it has sold more tickets.

For earlier milestones, see Spider-Man: Brand New Day’s $2 billion box office and its 13-day run to $700 million.