Spider-Man: Brand New Day opened across China on Wednesday and had already passed $16.5 million (RMB 112 million) by midday, with tracker Maoyan projecting a $37.4 million (RMB 254 million) first-day total, according to The Hollywood Reporter. That puts the latest Tom Holland-led Marvel film on track for the biggest superhero launch in the market since 2019.

The last comparable number belonged to Spider-Man: Far From Home, which opened to $36 million in China that year and went on to gross $199 million over its full run. No US superhero film has cleared $100 million in China since — not for lack of trying, but because Marvel films were blocked from Chinese screens by local regulators from mid-2019 through early 2023. The highest totals since the ban lifted belong to Venom: The Last Dance ($94 million in 2024) and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 ($87 million in 2023), both far short of Far From Home's benchmark.

Brand New Day's presales already signalled a break from that pattern. Advance ticket sales finished at $18.6 million (RMB 126.2 million), the best of any imported film of the past three summers and the sixth-biggest Hollywood post-Covid presales figure in China, per Koimoi. Maoyan now forecasts a $255 million full run; rival tracker Dengta puts the ceiling above $265 million.

Sony and Marvel Studios pulled out the stops for the market. China received the world's earliest release date, two days ahead of the North American bow on July 31. The film also landed an exclusive Imax launch in China — large-format screens in the US are tied up by Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey during the same corridor. Holland and co-star Zendaya flew to Shanghai for a local premiere the week before opening, and Holland told Chinese media that Jackie Chan visited the London set and his stunt team helped choreograph action sequences.

Destin Daniel Cretton, who previously directed Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, helms the film. The story picks up four years after No Way Home, with a Peter Parker forgotten by the world protecting New York alone. Mark Ruffalo's Hulk appears and battles Spider-Man, as revealed in the final trailer released July 21, per Variety.

The global picture is just as large. Brand New Day is projected to earn at least $275 million to $300 million internationally, per Variety, and a $425 million global opening weekend would rank as the second-best ever for Sony, according to Deadline.

What makes the China number stand out is the drought it breaks. For seven years, no US superhero title could match what Far From Home did on its first day. Brand New Day cleared that bar before lunch.