Spider-Man: Brand New Day breaks all-time opening day record
Plus: Samara Weaving joins X-Men as Emma Frost, M3GAN spinoff Soulm8te hits digital platforms, and casting news from Better Than The Movies and Universal comedies.
TL;DR
- Spider-Man: Brand New Day set a new opening day record with $168 million on Friday, August 1.
- Marvel announced Samara Weaving as Emma Frost in the upcoming X-Men reboot.
- Netflix's Better Than The Movies adaptation cast Beatrice Kitsos and David Iacono in leading roles.
- M3GAN spinoff Soulm8te became available for digital rental on August 1 after being pulled from theatrical release.
Box office and releases
Spider-Man shatters opening day record on August 1
Tom Holland's web-slinger claimed the biggest debut day in cinema history as it begins its record-breaking run.
Tom Holland's Spider-Man: Brand New Day crushed the all-time opening day record with $168 million, surpassing Avengers: Endgame's $157 million (via Screen Rant). The film is tracking toward $925 million globally—the second-biggest debut ever—with an expected $325 million domestic.
The Odyssey holds second with strong Friday. Christopher Nolan's Homer adaptation added $25 million on Friday, tracking toward $84.5 million for the weekend as it enters its third frame (via Variety). The film has crossed $727.9 million globally and remains on track toward the $1 billion mark.
Casting and production
X-Men, Naughty, and Netflix adaptations add major names
Marvel Studios and major studios announce casting across high-profile projects, from a superhero reboot to holiday comedy and BookTok adaptation.
Samara Weaving has been cast as Emma Frost in Marvel Studios' upcoming X-Men reboot under director Jake Schreier and Kevin Feige's vision for the franchise (via Deadline).
The Catch adds Fleming and Shayk. Comedian Chris Fleming and model Irina Shayk have joined Universal's new rom-com The Catch, which also stars Emma Stone and Chris Pine, marking the project's latest casting additions (via Deadline).
Aniston and Dinklage in Naughty. Jennifer Aniston and Peter Dinklage will headline Universal's holiday comedy Naughty, directed by Olivia Wilde, following a woman who must find Santa Claus to win custody of her son (via Variety).
Netflix casts Better Than The Movies leads. Beatrice Kitsos and David Iacono have landed the lead roles in Netflix's adaptation of the BookTok bestseller, with Julia Hart directing the rom-com about a woman who schemes to get a crush's attention (via Deadline).
Streaming
Soulm8te spinoff launches as digital-only release
After being pulled from theatrical distribution, the M3GAN universe expands with a straight-to-digital release available for rental today.
The M3GAN spinoff Soulm8te, originally scheduled for January theatrical release but shelved late last year, is now available to rent on digital platforms starting August 1 from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment (via Variety). The erotic thriller follows a grieving engineer testing a tech giant's artificial intelligence android, who develops her own ruthless agenda when programmed as a sentient soulmate.