With Spider-Man: Brand New Day tearing up box office records, the boss of Sony Pictures has offered his thoughts on why it’s such an incredible success.
Brand New Day, which sees Tom Holland reprise his role as Spider-Man, has made over $2.4 billion at the global box office. It is the third highest-grossing movie of all time, behind only Avatar and Avengers: Endgame.
But its popularity comes not from the fact it’s a big budget superhero movie, Sony Pictures chief Tom Rothman said, as reported by Variety. It’s down to the fact that it is, essentially, a movie about “a lonely guy.”
If you’re one of the few who hasn’t seen Brand New Day yet, it picks up years after the events of 2021’s No Way Home, and shows Peter Parker struggling to cope with the absence of his friends and loved ones following Doctor Strange’s memory wipe spell. A decent chunk of the first act of the movie is spent showing Parker’s inner turmoil and, yes, his extreme loneliness, which is fueled by the end of his relationship with Zendaya’s MJ.
This, Rothman insisted, is the key to Brand New Day’s appeal.
Brand New Day is “not so much a superhero film, but a super-person film,” he said. “The reason that movie has resonated all around the world is because it’s about a lonely guy… It’s like yeah, it’s about friendship. It’s very human. It’s very emotional. It’s got plenty of whiz-bang, but that’s not what the secret is. The secret is it’s a relatable story that almost everybody has related to.”
Warning! Spoilers for Spider-Man: Brand New Day follow…
By the end of Brand New Day, Peter Parker looks like he’s on the way to rekindling his relationships with both MJ and Jacob Batalon’s Ned Leeds, although the extent to which this is possible with Strange’s spell still in place remains to be seen. Certainly, Parker is in a better place at the end of Brand New Day than at the start, having also helped Sadie Sink’s Jean Grey work through her own issues.
Where does Spider-Man go from here? Given the money the movies make, there will surely be more to come. Holland himself has spoken about potentially passing the baton to Miles Morales, a character who now seems certain to be introduced into the MCU sooner rather than later.
Meanwhile, Brand New Day’s box office success continues. Will it crack $1 billion domestically? It’s on $923 million right now, so it’s certainly possible.
