The new "Spider-Man" brought AMC theaters record box office receipts in its 106-year history

AMC Entertainment, the world’s largest movie theater chain, reported its highest-ever box office results. This was largely driven by the premiere of “Spider-Man: A New Generation,” starring Tom Holland and Zendaya, who also starred in another recent blockbuster, “Odysee.” Cinemark Holdings also reported a box office record. According to The Wall Street Journal, the new installment in the franchise grossed $927 million during its opening weekend, marking the second-largest opening in the history of global box office.

From Wednesday, July 29, through Sunday, August 2, AMC posted its highest-ever total revenue in its 106-year history, the company announced. Over the course of five days, more than 10.2 million moviegoers visited AMC Theatres in the U.S. and ODEON Cinemas abroad, making it the company’s busiest weekend in the last ten years. AMC also set a world record for food and beverage revenue over the weekend. The company attributed the success to the premiere of “Spider-Man: A New Day.” The film generated the highest revenue for the Dolby Cinema format, while Christopher Nolan’s “Odyssey” continued to draw audiences to IMAX theaters.

At the same time, the Cinemark theater chain announced that the period from July 31 to August 2 was the highest-grossing weekend in the company’s history in the U.S. market. The new Spider-Man film delivered the best three-day opening, surpassing the previous record set by “Avengers: Endgame.” In addition, Cinemark reported record results for its premium theater formats, as well as the highest-ever revenue from food, beverage, and merchandise sales in the chain’s history. All of this reaffirmed the ability of major movie premieres to become major cultural events and drive demand for a premium theater experience, said Cinemark CEO Sean Gamble.

AMC shares jumped 7.5% at the opening bell on August 3, but then gave up most of their gains. Cinemark shares rose 6.5% and also saw their gains halve. IMAX shares gained 3.4%, shares of the Canadian theater chain Cineplex rose about 4%, and shares of the U.S. theater chain Marcus rose 6.2%.

A strong summer movie season is bringing audiences back to theaters, Bloomberg notes . “Spider-Man: No Way Home” grossed $927 million at the global box office during its opening weekend, marking the second-biggest opening in history, according to The Wall Street Journal. In North America, the film earned $355 million, falling just short of “Avengers: Endgame,” which grossed $357 million in 2019.

According to the publication, the success of the new installment in the Spider-Man franchise has been a major milestone for the superhero genre, which has been in decline in recent years following several lackluster releases from Marvel and DC. The film, starring Tom Holland, has a good chance of becoming the highest-grossing release of 2026 and is helping to make this the best year for Hollywood box office receipts since the pandemic, the publication writes.

Box office receipts in the U.S. and Canada have reached $6.2 billion since the start of the year, which is 15% higher than the figure for the same period in 2025. Last weekend alone, North American box office receipts totaled $429 million, according to Rentrak data cited by the WSJ.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor