LOS ANGELES — Sony Pictures’ “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” has become the highest-grossing film of all time across the premium ScreenX and 4DX theatrical formats, generating more than $104 million in combined global box office in just 33 days, according to CJ 4DPlex, the entertainment technology company behind both immersive cinema formats.
The Tom Holland-led superhero film surpassed the previous all-time CJ 4DPlex global box office record set by “Avatar: The Way of Water,” which had accumulated $103 million across a considerably longer 228-day theatrical run. The speed at which “Brand New Day” reached the milestone marks a dramatic acceleration compared with the prior record holder, reaching the same benchmark in roughly one-seventh the time.
CJ 4DPlex Americas CEO Don Savant characterized the achievement as evidence of the growing commercial power of premium theatrical formats within the broader film industry.
“This record demonstrates the tremendous opportunity premium formats create across the theatrical ecosystem,” Savant said. “For studios and filmmakers, ScreenX and 4DX provide differentiated ways to showcase their biggest films, create excitement and drive incremental box office. For exhibitors, they provide a premium experience audiences actively seek out and are willing to pay more to enjoy.”
Savant also credited Sony Pictures directly for embracing an unconventional production approach that helped make the record possible.
“Most importantly, we are incredibly grateful to Sony Pictures for embracing our vision for ‘Shot for ScreenX’ and working with us to make it a reality,” Savant said. “Their partnership and commitment were instrumental in achieving this historic success.”
CJ 4DPlex separately extended gratitude to the film’s creative team for helping pioneer the new production approach.
“We are incredibly grateful to Sony Pictures, Destin Daniel Cretton and the entire filmmaking team for embracing this new creative approach and helping demonstrate what is possible when premium formats become part of the filmmaking process from the beginning,” the company said.
“Spider-Man: Brand New Day” is the first Hollywood film produced using CJ 4DPlex’s “Shot for ScreenX” technology, meaning the film was designed with ScreenX presentation in mind from the earliest stages of production, working closely with Sony Pictures rather than adapting existing footage after the fact. The film also marked the first Hollywood release to expand its ScreenX presentation beyond the traditional side screens to include a ceiling-mounted display, creating a four-sided viewing experience intended to maximize audience immersion.
According to CJ 4DPlex, the film achieved a record 40% average occupancy rate across its ScreenX and 4DX screenings, a figure the company said demonstrates extraordinary audience demand for the premium formats. The film also set opening-weekend records for ScreenX in 36 countries and for 4DX in 22 countries. As of the announcement, “Brand New Day” was playing across roughly 1,200 ScreenX and 4DX screens in more than 70 countries worldwide, with cumulative global attendance across those premium formats surpassing 6.7 million moviegoers.
South Korea in particular showed strong demand for the film’s premium presentations. As of Sept. 3, ScreenX screenings of “Brand New Day” had drawn more than 472,000 admissions domestically in South Korea, accounting for roughly 5.5% of the film’s total cumulative South Korean audience of approximately 8.645 million moviegoers, a share that underscores the significant role premium formats have played in the film’s performance in that market specifically.
CJ 4D Plex CEO Byoung-jun Bang addressed the significance of the milestone from an industry-collaboration perspective, framing the achievement as evidence of an evolving relationship between filmmaking and premium format technology.
Bang said the film’s success as the first “Shot for ScreenX” production represented a meaningful evolution in how filmmakers, studios and premium format technology developers collaborate, suggesting the achievement extended well beyond simple box office performance to point toward a broader shift in how future blockbusters might be conceived and produced with immersive formats built in from the outset.
The record adds to an already historic overall theatrical run for “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” since its July 31 release. The film has climbed into the all-time top tier of global box office performers, officially surpassing “Avatar: The Way of Water’s” $2.33 billion lifetime worldwide haul to become the third highest-grossing film of all time globally, trailing only “Avatar” and “Avengers: Endgame.” Industry trackers have projected the film’s eventual worldwide total could land somewhere between $2.5 billion and $2.7 billion by the end of its theatrical run.
Domestically, the film has also mounted a serious challenge to a long-standing North American box office record. With a domestic total approaching $900 million, “Brand New Day” has continued closing in on “Star Wars: The Force Awakens’” 11-year-old North American record of $936.7 million, with some industry analysts suggesting the film could realistically break that mark before its theatrical run concludes.
The film’s box office dominance has also solidified its status as the highest-grossing Spider-Man film ever produced, surpassing the previous franchise record of $1.9 billion set by “Spider-Man: No Way Home.” Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige has since confirmed plans for additional Spider-Man films following “Brand New Day’s” breakout commercial success, though it remains unclear whether Holland will return for future installments, despite the actor previously expressing willingness to continue in the role.
The film’s dual achievement, both as the top-performing film in premium theatrical formats and as one of the highest-grossing movies in cinema history overall, reflects a broader industry trend in which studios and technology providers have increasingly collaborated to design blockbuster releases specifically optimized for immersive theatrical experiences from the earliest stages of production, rather than treating premium formats as an afterthought applied to already-completed films.
With “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” continuing to play across theaters worldwide and its box office totals still climbing, both Sony Pictures and CJ 4DPlex are likely to point to the film’s dual record-setting performance as a model for future blockbuster productions seeking to maximize both traditional theatrical grosses and the growing revenue potential of premium format presentations like ScreenX and 4DX.
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