“Spider-Man: Far From Home” kicked off the 4th of July holiday with a bang, earning $39.25 million at the domestic box office in its first day on Tuesday, which Sony says makes it the largest opening on a Tuesday ever, and it also gives it the record for the highest single day gross on a Tuesday.
The latest entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is projected by the studio to earn $125 million over the six-day holiday weekend, with trackers saying it could swing as high as $150 million, and the enormous start certainly puts the film on pace to beat the studio’s projected total. “Far From Home” opened on 4,634 locations, which is also the highest location count for a July film, and the film earned an A grade from audiences via CinemaScore.
The $39.25 million surpassed the previous single day total for any film on a Tuesday, beating out the record held by “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” which didn’t open on a Tuesday but made $37.3 million in the single day. The previous second place film was another Spider-Man movie, “The Amazing Spider-Man” from 2012, which did open on a Tuesday ahead of July 4 and made $35 million.
The previous entry in the franchise, “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” opened in July just after the Independence Day holiday on July 7 and had a 3-day opening of $117 million on its way to a $334.2 million domestic run and $880 million worldwide.
“Far From Home” is also following the cataclysmic events of “Avengers: Endgame,” which has obliterated box office records in nearly every metric. So the hope is that “Far From Home” can help provide Sony, and the summer box office as a whole, a big bump in a crucial July before another massive summer movie, Disney’s live-action remake of “The Lion King,” opens on July 21.
Overseas, “Far From Home” will open in all major territories except Italy after earning $111 million from China, Japan and Hong Kong this past weekend. Globally, analysts project a total as high as $500 million by the end of the coming weekend.
“Spider-Man: Far From Home” follows Peter Parker (Tom Holland) as he comes to terms with the loss of Tony Stark. Unfortunately, his attempts to pick up his spirits with a European vacation with his friends are cut short by a visit from Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), who needs Spider-Man to save the day now that the Avengers are no more.
“Homecoming” director Jon Watts returns with stars Zendaya, Jon Favreau, Jacob Batalon and Marisa Tomei, with Jake Gyllenhaal joining the cast as Mysterio. Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers, who also worked on “Homecoming,” co-wrote the screenplay for “Far From Home.”