Tom Holland and Zendaya have spent much of 2026 at the center of Hollywood’s biggest releases, but even by their standards, the success of Spider-Man: Brand New Day is on another level.
Holland’s fourth solo movie as Peter Parker crossed $1 billion at the worldwide box office after only six days in theaters, becoming the second-fastest film in history to reach the milestone. Only Avengers: Endgame, which earned more than $1.2 billion during its opening weekend in 2019, got there sooner.
Released July 31, 2026, Brand New Day has earned approximately $1.05 billion worldwide so far, including $407 million in North America and more than $645 million internationally. It also surpassed Endgame to deliver the biggest domestic opening weekend ever, earning $360 million across the United States and Canada.
That was only one of several records broken by the film. Brand New Day posted the highest-grossing domestic opening day and the biggest Thursday preview total in box-office history. It became the fastest movie to pass $400 million domestically and earned $47 million on its first Monday, beating the previous Monday record set by Black Panther in 2018.
The movie reunites Peter Parker (Tom Holland) with MJ (Zendaya) and Ned (Jacob Batalon) following the events of 2021's Spider-Man: No Way Home. Peter has been living alone and protecting New York after everyone he loves was made to forget him. When MJ and Ned return to the city after finishing college, Peter is pulled back into their lives while confronting a dangerous new threat. Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, the film also stars Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle/The Punisher, Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova and Sadie Sink as Jean Grey.
Its success arrives during an already remarkable year for Tom and Zendaya. Only two weeks before Brand New Day, both appeared in Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey, which has earned more than $900 million worldwide. Tom plays Telemachus, the son of Odysseus and Penelope, while Zendaya appears as Athena, the goddess who guides Odysseus during his long journey home from the Trojan War. The epic also stars Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway and Robert Pattinson.
The two films helped produce the biggest domestic box-office weekend in Hollywood history. They have also given Tom and Zendaya nearly $2 billion in combined theatrical grosses from their shared 2026 releases alone, with both movies still playing in theaters.
For Tom, The Odyssey and Spider-Man: Brand New Day represent his two major confirmed movie appearances of the year. Although there has been speculation that Spider-Man could appear in December’s Avengers: Doomsday, Tom has not officially been announced as part of the cast.
Zendaya’s year has been even busier.
She began 2026 appearing opposite Robert Pattinson in A24’s The Drama, playing a woman whose approaching wedding is thrown into turmoil when a secret from her teenage years comes to light. The film earned more than $120 million worldwide, becoming another commercial success for the studio.
Zendaya will also return as Chani in Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Three, scheduled to arrive in theaters December 18, 2026. The movie reunites her with Timothée Chalamet and Pattinson and follows the enormous success of Dune: Part Two, which earned more than $700 million worldwide in 2024.
The third Dune movie will open on the same day as Avengers: Doomsday, creating one of the year’s most closely watched box-office matchups. Fans have already given the weekend the unofficial nickname “Dunesday,” because the two blockbusters will be competing for many of the same moviegoers and premium screens.
Zendaya could therefore finish the year with four major films — The Drama, The Odyssey, Spider-Man: Brand New Day and Dune: Part Three. Tom Holland, meanwhile, has led two of the year’s largest theatrical events, including a Spider-Man sequel that is now chasing the $2 billion mark. At 29 and 30, the recently married couple are no longer simply two popular young actors associated with a successful superhero franchise. They have become two of the most commercially powerful stars working in Hollywood today. ~Chidera Arimah