Samwise Film & TV Marketing Newsletter
Monday, August 10, 2026
Spider-Man: Brand New Day Posts $145 Million Second Weekend as U.S. Summer Box Office Passes $4 Billion
Sony and Marvel’s Spider-Man: Brand New Day earned an estimated $145 million in its second domestic weekend — the third-best second frame in box office history — bringing its 10-day North American cumulative to $655 million across 4,487 theaters. The performance pushed the domestic summer box office above $4 billion, according to Deadline. Worldwide, the film has now grossed $1.67 billion, making it the second-fastest release ever to cross $1 billion internationally behind Avengers: Endgame. Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey held in second place with $31.5 million in its fourth weekend for a North American cumulative of $461 million.
Netflix Puts Live Performer Inside Sunset Boulevard Billboard to Promote ‘The Last House’
Netflix installed a live performer inside a fully furnished, air-conditioned room atop a Sunset Boulevard billboard at the intersection of Selma Avenue in Los Angeles from August 6 through August 8 to promote the thriller The Last House, which debuted on the platform on August 7. The performer communicated with passersby below via whiteboard while attempting to carry on normal daily routines inside the enclosed space. The campaign mirrors the film’s premise — a family sealed inside their home with no way out — starring Greta Lee and Wagner Moura. The installation ran concurrent with the film’s Netflix debut.
Rockstar Games Partners with Netflix for GTA 6 Extended Preview in First-of-Its-Kind Gaming–Hollywood Deal
Rockstar Games has partnered with Netflix to premiere the Grand Theft Auto 6 extended look exclusively on the streaming platform, marking what Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick described as “a first of its kind partnership.” The footage will air on Netflix on August 27 at 3 p.m. ET, then on Rockstar’s YouTube channel at 9 p.m. ET — a six-hour exclusive window. Variety reports the deal signals Hollywood’s deepening relationship with the gaming industry, with Rockstar positioning the preview as a scheduled entertainment event rather than a conventional trailer drop. GTA 6 launches November 19 on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.
Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey Crosses $1 Billion Globally, Becomes Director’s Highest-Grossing Film
Universal’s The Odyssey, directed by Christopher Nolan, has crossed $1 billion at the global box office, becoming the filmmaker’s highest-grossing release of all time. The achievement surpasses Nolan’s previous record, 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises ($1.085 billion worldwide), with The Odyssey now at approximately $1.1 billion globally and $461 million domestically. The milestone also made Universal the first major studio to cross $4 billion in worldwide grosses in 2026, driven by The Odyssey alongside other studio tentpoles. The film, a modern epic adaptation of Homer’s poem, continued to post strong holds in its fourth weekend of wide release.
Hollywood on Track for First $10 Billion Domestic Year Since 2019 as Box Office Recovery Accelerates
The domestic box office is up 23 percent year over year through early August, with 2026 standing at $4.66 billion and on track for its first $10 billion-plus year since before the pandemic, according to Variety. Studios are fielding 115 to 120 wide releases in 2026, up from 94 in 2024 and in line with 2019’s pre-pandemic output. The recovery spans genres: Project Hail Mary ($684 million worldwide), the low-budget horror film Obsession, and the biopic Michael (over $1 billion) each outperformed expectations before Spider-Man: Brand New Day and The Odyssey extended the summer surge. Variety attributes the recovery to a varied slate rather than any single franchise.
Box Office — Currently in Theatres
| # | Title | Release Date | Weekend | Cumulative |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spider-Man: Brand New Day | Jul 31 | $145.0M | $655.1M |
| 2 | The Odyssey | Jul 17 | $31.5M | $461.2M |
| 3 | One Night Only | Aug 7 | $5.7M | $5.7M |
| 4 | Super Troopers 3 | Aug 7 | $4.0M | $4.0M |
| 5 | Toy Story 5 | Jun 19 | $3.9M | $470.4M |
| 6 | Minions & Monsters | Jul 1 | $3.5M | $176.4M |
| 7 | Moana | Jul 10 | $2.8M | $121.4M |
| 8 | Ice Cream Man | Aug 7 | $2.0M | $2.0M |
| 9 | The Invite | Jun 26 | $718K | $24.3M |
| 10 | CatVideoFest 2026 | Aug 7 | $568K | $568K |
| 11 | Hadestown: The Musical | Jul 24 | $391K | $20.2M |
| 12 | Tony | Aug 7 | $349K | $349K |
| 13 | Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma | Aug 7 | $252K | $252K |
| 14 | Obsession | May 15 | $200K | $263.3M |
| 15 | The Samurai and the Prisoner | Jul 31 | $174K | $274K |
| 16 | I Want Your Sex | Jul 31 | $167K | $1.3M |
| 17 | Young Washington | Jul 3 | $160K | $46.9M |
| 18 | Backrooms | May 29 | $54K | $197.5M |
| 19 | Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World | Jul 3 | $45K | $531K |
| 20 | Sheep in the Box | Jul 24 | $44K | $161K |
Source: The Numbers · Weekend estimates Aug 7–9, 2026
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Curated by JD · samwise.agency