Cinema is more alive than ever. Audiences worldwide have had plenty of action during the past few weeks courtesy of two incredible films that couldn't be any more different from one another. Jon Bernthal—who once brought Shane Walsh to life in AMC's The Walking Dead—portrayed the role of King Menelaus in Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey. Additionally, the iconic actor finally brought his rendition of the Punisher to the big screen in Marvel's Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
Anticipation was at an all-time high for these two blockbusters, and initial box-office projections suggested they would break no shortage of records. However, no amount of estimates could've prepared us for the overwhelming level of success The Odyssey and Spider-Man: Brand New Day would find during their first days in theaters. Now, Jon Bernthal, Zendaya, and Tom Holland have all become the first actors to star in two films that reached a major milestone on the same weekend.
The Odyssey and Spider-Man: Brand New Day both crossed the $900 million mark on the same weekend
On the weekend of August 1-2 of 2026, both Spider-Man: Brand New Day and The Odyssey crossed the $900 million mark at the worldwide box office. Christopher Nolan's latest Greek epic currently sits at a domestic US gross of $395.5 million and an astounding total of $911.4 million across all territories.
Early estimations suggested The Odyssey could end its entire theatrical run grossing $1.1 billion, but that figure has since gone up all the way to $1.4 billion. If that were to hold true, then Christopher Nolan's latest project would officially become the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time. To put into perspective how big this achievement is, here are the 10 most successful R-rated movies ever made:
- The Odyssey - $1.4 billion (projected)
- Deadpool & Wolverine - $1.338 billion
- Joker - $1.07 billion
- Oppenheimer - $975 million
- Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Infinity Castle - $793 million
- Deadpool 2Â - $785 million
- Deadpool - $782 million
- The Matrix Reloaded - $741 million
- It - $719 million
- Detective Chinatown 3Â - $686 million
On the other side of the coin, Spider-Man: Brand New Day has also shattered all early estimations. While it was projected that the wall-crawler's latest adventure would open to $425 million globally, those figures were smashed by the Hulk himself. Instead, the film ended up grossing an astonishing $927 million at the worldwide box office, with $335 million coming from US theaters alone.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day has officially become the film with the second-biggest opening of all time, just behind Avengers: Endgame. During its first days in theaters, the latest MCU project has already outgrossed the entire theatrical runs of other superhero projects like Thunderbolts*, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, and Spider-Man: Homecoming. For reference, here are the top five biggest openings ever, and where Brand New Day ranks among them:
- Avengers: Endgame - $1.2 billion
- Spider-Man: Brand New Day - $927 million
- Avengers: Infinity War - $640 million
- Spider-Man: No Way Home - $600.5 million
- Zootopia 2 - $559 million
Spider-Man: Brand New Day is expected to surpass the $1 billion mark before the end of its first week in theaters. Not only that, but it could end up joining the $2 billion club by the end of its entire theatrical run. Throughout the entire history of cinema, only seven films have reached this milestone: Avatar, Avengers: Endgame, Avatar: The Way of Water, Ne Zha 2, Titanic, Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens, and Avengers: Infinity War.
Interestingly, Jon Bernthal and Tom Holland have a prominent dynamic in both The Odyssey and Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Their characters are very different in both projects, yet the actors behind them have the opportunity to share a lot of scenes in them (and their chemistry is off the charts).
The sky is the limit when it comes to the box-office runs of The Odyssey and Spider-Man: Brand New Day, and all signs indicate the two will keep breaking even more records in the weeks to follow.
The Odyssey and Spider-Man: Brand New Day are now playing in theaters.
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