Kevin Feige on Spider-Man Brand New Day Success, Tom Holland Sequel - Variety

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Kevin Feige can’t stop breaking his own box office benchmarks. As the president of Marvel Studios and architect of the sprawling, ultra-successful Marvel Cinematic Universe, Feige is now responsible for the four biggest opening weekends in history.

His latest record-setting blockbuster is “ Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” which collected a dizzying $360 million in its domestic debut and supplanted 2019’s “Avengers: Endgame” ($357 million) as the biggest opening weekend ever. To get a sense of the size and scale of the accomplishment, the third- and fourth-largest launches — 2021's "Spider-Man: No Way Home" with $260 million and 2018's "Avengers: Infinity War" with $257 million — earned $100 million less to start and still became two of the highest-grossing movies of all time. All that’s to say, there’s no telling where “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” the 38th installment in the MCU, will wind up by the end of its theatrical run. With $932 million globally after three (!) days in theaters, the Tom Holland -led superhero adventure will cross $1 billion at a near-record clip and should climb to $2 billion in no time.

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“It’s overwhelming, frankly, to find ourselves in this position on a Monday morning,” says Feige. “In the very best way.”

“Brand New Day,” Holland’s fourth solo outing as Spider-Man, follows the aftermath of the titular web-slinger’s pivotal decision in “No Way Home” to erase his identity from the world in order to salvage the multiverse. He’s still fighting crime, but Marvel’s friendly, neighborhood hero is seriously struggling without his pals (Zendaya and Jacob Batalon) by his side, and with a mysterious entity (Sadie Sink has something to do with that) threatening New York City.

After a historic weekend at the box office, Feige spoke to Variety about Tom Holland’s enduring popularity as Peter Parker, Sink’s grand MCU debut, and what the success of “Brand New Day” means for December’s epic crossover event, “Avengers: Doomsday.”

I didn’t — for all the reasons I don’t think anyone did, because of COVID, because of the beating that theatrical took for so long. But once the bar had been raised, it could be raised again, right? The first movie to ever cross $100 million over opening weekend was Sam Raimi’s “Spider-Man.” The first to cross $150 million in one weekend was Sam Raimi’s “Spider-Man 3.” The first to $200 million was the first “Avengers.” And then, of course, the first to $300 million was “Endgame.” We did think that things could increase, but the past five or six years didn’t necessarily feel like that was the case. That’s a long-winded way of saying I did not expect “Endgame’s” record to be beat, but I couldn’t be happier that it was beat this past weekend by our 38th MCU movie.

It’s a testament to [director] Destin Daniel Cretton, Tom Holland, and [producer] Amy Pascal. And [Sony Pictures chairman] Tom Rothman, for letting us do this four times now — working to bring Spidey to the screen. It’s a testament to what Stan Lee and Steve Ditko created all those years ago. People can write about changing tastes, but as characters that grow and evolve through the decades, there are none better than the Marvel characters — and none better than Peter Parker. When you find an actor like Tom Holland to bring that character to life, it is the magic formula.

There are always plans. But right now, he’s going to rest after that global tour. He and Zendaya are going to take a good and restful victory lap, which they very much deserve.

It’s purely about creating the best possible opening weekend experience for the audience. Sadie’s character is one that our fans know has immense significance within the Marvel Universe, and she plays a key role in the future of the MCU. I’m just happy that the secret is finally out and that Sadie can stop dodging the question.