{"id":309077,"date":"2026-07-29T20:04:18","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T20:04:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/309077\/"},"modified":"2026-07-29T20:04:18","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T20:04:18","slug":"from-queens-to-ithaca-brand-new-day-and-the-odyssey-could-make-for-one-historic-weekend-at-the-movies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/309077\/","title":{"rendered":"From Queens to Ithaca: “Brand New Day” and “The Odyssey” Could Make for One Historic Weekend at the Movies"},"content":{"rendered":"

Spideysseus might not quite have the same ring as Barbenheimer<\/a>, nor does it make the same kind of sense given the two films aren\u2019t opening simultaneously, but Spider-Man: Brand New Day and Christopher Nolan\u2019s The Odyssey<\/a> sharing a weekend at the box office together could still be historic. <\/p>\n

Spider-Man: Brand New Day swings into theaters with projections that could place it among the biggest openings ever, while Christopher Nolan\u2019s The Odyssey continues its remarkable run across premium screens and theaters, defying expectations all the while<\/a>. And Tom Holland and Zendaya find themselves at the center of a rare cinematic phenomenon, with major roles in both films. It\u2019s a potentially record-setting weekend that could serve as a powerful reminder of what\u2019s possible when two radically different blockbusters capture audiences\u2019 imaginations simultaneously.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start with the latest offering; Destin Daniel Cretton and his Spider-Man: Brand New Day<\/a>\u00a0team wisely leaned on the true superpowers they had in their possession\u2014the capacities of their cast, led by Tom Holland in his fourth turn as Peter Parker. The result is one of the most critically admired MCU films<\/a> in years, a grounded, soulful superhero movie that leans on the years of goodwill and connection the film\u2019s cast has built up with audiences, including Zendaya as MJ and Jacob Batalon as Ned, the love of Peter\u2019s life and his best friend, respectively. \u201cBrand New Day offers a maturation not only of its hero, but of the franchise\u2019s entire vision, too,\u201d writes the Independent<\/a>\u2018s Clarisse Loughrey. \u201cNow alone and facing dangerous foes, Spider-Man must grow up, a rewarding transformation befitting a consistently smart, thrilling blockbuster,\u201d says Screen International<\/a>\u2018s Tim Grierson. \u201cCretton brings both indie cred and superhero chops to the assignment, but once again, it\u2019s Holland who makes this iteration of Peter Parker\/Spider-Man so achingly vulnerable and balletically agile,\u201d writes The Film Verdict<\/a>\u2018s Alonso Duralde. <\/p>\n

Now, Cretton\u2019s film, set to swing into theaters on July 31, is poised to make history. While much has been made of superhero fatigue over the past few years, it seems that Holland and company are about to sling a big, fat asterisk against that supposition. Current estimates for the opening haul range suggest that\u00a0Brand New Day\u00a0could have one of the biggest opening weekends in film history. How big?\u00a0Box office experts suggest the film could join the\u00a0ranks of other mega-hits, including the Russo Brothers\u2019 colossal 2019 hit\u00a0Avengers: Endgame,\u00a02021\u2019s\u00a0Spider-Man: No Way Home,\u00a0and 2019\u2019s\u00a0Avengers: Infinity War,\u00a0as well as\u00a02015\u2019s Star Wars: The Force Awakens.\u00a0One major global boost is that Brand New Day\u00a0is landing day-and-date in China, an advantage over\u00a0No Way Home, which didn\u2019t play in the country at all.<\/p>\n

Brand New Day\u00a0is set four years after the events in\u00a0No Way Home, when Peter was forced to make a terrible choice. After having botched Doctor Strange\u2019s spell to wipe Spider-Man\u2019s identity from the minds of millions\u2014Peter kept asking for changes, like making it so MJ, Ned, and Aunt May remembered him\u2014a tear formed in the multiverse, unleashing villains and Peters from alternate universes.\u00a0No Way Home\u00a0gave fans the thrill of watching Holland interact with the men who previously played Spider-Man, Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire, as the three web slingers battled iconic villains like Alfred Molina\u2019s Doc Ock and Willem Dafoe\u2019s Green Goblin. Only now, in\u00a0Brand New Day, Peter is utterly alone. Neither MJ nor Ned remember him, nor does anyone else.\u00a0He lost Aunt May (Marisa Tomei)\u00a0in\u00a0No Way Home, leaving him facing\u00a0a new threat and a lonely future without the love of his life or his best friend.<\/p>\n

The film also boasts a stellar supporting cast, including Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle\/The Punisher, Mark Ruffalo returning as Bruce Banner\/the Hulk, Tramell Tillman, and Sadie Sink, in a very mysterious, undisclosed role.<\/p>\n

Brand New Day\u00a0is set to screen on premium large formats except IMAX, where Christopher Nolan\u2019s The Odyssey\u00a0commands the entire network for three weekends. Now, with Brand New Day and The Odyssey\u00a0sharing a weekend, box office prognosticators are eyeing what could be a truly historic weekend.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Peter Parker, meet Telemachus; MJ, meet Athena\u2014this is the stuff movie dreams are made of.<\/p>\n

L-r: Zendaya and Tom Holland in \u201cSpider-Man: Brand New Day.\u201d Courtesy Sony Pictures; Matt Damon and Zendaya in \u201cThe Odyssey.\u201d Courtesy Universal Pictures.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Spideysseus might not quite have the same ring as Barbenheimer, nor does it make the same kind of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":309078,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[83166,9,24,63,122,124,123,116925,116206,108563,52452],"class_list":["post-309077","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-marvel-studios","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news","tag-sony-pictures","tag-spider-man-brand-new-day","tag-the-odyssey","tag-universal-pictures"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309077","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=309077"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/309077\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/309078"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=309077"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=309077"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=309077"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}