Summer 2026 ended with a record, and Spider-Man: Brand New Day is about to add another one. The domestic summer box office finished at $4.765 billion, narrowly surpassing the previous record of $4.756 billion set in 2013, according to Screendollars.
Meanwhile, Sony’s Spider-Man: Brand New Day has climbed to $935.2 million domestically, leaving it just $1.5 million shy of the $936.7 million record held by Star Wars: The Force Awakens since 2015.
Barring an unexpected collapse, Peter Parker is about to become king of the domestic box office.
Ironically, that milestone comes just as Spider-Man finally surrendered the No. 1 spot after six consecutive weekends.
Warner Bros.’ Practical Magic 2 debuted with $30 million domestically and $46 million worldwide, pushing Brand New Day into second place with another $8.4 million.
A record summer — with an asterisk
The $4.765 billion summer total technically makes 2026 the biggest domestic summer ever, but the comparison deserves some context.
The industry counts summer from the first Friday in May through Labor Day weekend. This year’s season lasted 130 days, seven more than the comparable 2013 period, and the earlier figures have not been adjusted for inflation.
It took Labor Day Monday’s $23.2 million to push the season past 2013 by just $9 million — less than 0.2 percent.
Even so, encouraging signs appear beneath the headline number.
Every month of the 2026 summer season generated more than $1 billion, while August reached $1.28 billion, an all-time record for the month.
Compared with 2019, the final pre-pandemic summer, box office revenue was up about 10 percent. Attendance, however, remains roughly 16 percent lower after accounting for higher ticket prices.
That is an important distinction. Hollywood may finally be back to record revenue. It has not yet returned to record crowds.
‘Practical Magic’ casts another spell
Twenty-eight years after the original became a cult favorite, Practical Magic 2 proved there was still plenty of affection for the Owens family.
The sequel reunites Sandra Bullock as Sally Owens and Nicole Kidman as Gillian, with Stockard Channing and Dianne Wiest also returning.
New additions include Joey King and Maisie Williams as Sally’s daughters.
Directed by Susanne Bier, the film opened considerably stronger than the 1998 original, which debuted with $13.1 million and finished with $46.7 million domestically.
The sequel reportedly carries a roughly $75 million net production budget, making its $30 million opening respectable but leaving Warner Bros. dependent on strong holds and international play to reach profitability.
Reviews have been far less enthusiastic than audiences.
Screendollars reports the film at 39 percent with critics on Rotten Tomatoes but 92 percent with audiences, echoing the original film, which also struggled critically before building a devoted following through home video, cable, streaming and annual Halloween viewing.
Maybe bad reviews are simply part of the Practical Magic spell.
Spider-Man is one swing away from history
After six weekends at No. 1, Brand New Day fell 54 percent to $8.4 million, bringing its domestic total to $935.2 million and worldwide haul to an extraordinary $2.452 billion.
Passing The Force Awakens would make it the highest-grossing movie ever at the domestic box office.
The film already delivered the biggest domestic opening weekend on record, hit $1 billion worldwide in six days and has become the biggest global movie of 2026.
It has also cemented Tom Holland as one of the defining movie stars of his generation.
Holland occupies the top two spots at the worldwide box office this year thanks to Brand New Day and Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, which has earned another $1.684 billion worldwide.
Together, the two films have generated approximately $4.14 billion globally.
Not a bad year to turn 30.
‘The Odyssey’ keeps sailing
Nolan’s The Odyssey added another $7.4 million in its ninth weekend, bringing its domestic total to roughly $600 million.
Worldwide, it stands at $1.684 billion, making it Nolan’s highest-grossing film and Universal’s biggest worldwide release to date.
Its premium-format performance has been especially remarkable. The film has generated more than $457 million from IMAX, including approximately $78 million from the 41 theaters worldwide capable of presenting the film in IMAX 70mm.
Nearly two months after opening, audiences are still seeking out those screenings. That may be one of the summer’s biggest lessons. Audiences have not abandoned movie theaters.
They have become more selective about what gets them there.
Elsewhere at the box office
Angel Studios’ Runner opened with $6.7 million domestically. The $70 million action thriller stars Alan Ritchson and Owen Wilson and marks a significant move outside Angel’s traditional faith-oriented lane.
Its opening makes profitability unlikely for the film’s producers, although Angel’s exposure is limited because the company acquired distribution rights rather than financing the production.
Meanwhile, Coyote vs. Acme continued one of the year’s strangest Hollywood redemption stories.
Ketchup Entertainment’s rescued Warner Bros. film earned another $6.2 million in its third weekend, bringing its domestic total to $47.8 million.
Screendollars projects a possible worldwide finish around $92 million, not blockbuster territory, but enough to give the film a legitimate theatrical life after Warner Bros. previously shelved the completed project.
More importantly, audiences got to decide whether the movie deserved to exist outside a studio balance sheet.
Hollywood’s summer comeback is real — but incomplete
Through 36 weeks, the 2026 domestic box office stands at approximately $7.24 billion, up 21 percent over 2025.
Estimated attendance is up 15 percent year over year.
Compared with 2019, however, revenue remains 8 percent lower, and attendance is about 30 percent behind.
So Hollywood is not completely back.
But Summer 2026 proved something the industry desperately needed to see.
Give moviegoers a steady supply of films they actually want- superheroes, witches, Christopher Nolan epics, animation, and everything in between- and they will still show up.
And sometime very soon, Spider-Man is going to swing past Star Wars while they’re doing it.
