Level 1 — Absolute Beginner
A new Spider-Man movie is called Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Tom Holland plays Spider-Man in the movie.
The movie has made more money in the United States than any other movie ever. It broke a record that was ten years old.
The old record was from a Star Wars movie called The Force Awakens. Spider-Man: Brand New Day passed it after only 47 days in theaters.
Around the world, the movie has made about 2.45 billion dollars. That makes it the third biggest movie of all time.
- movie
- a story shown with moving pictures in a theater
- theater
- a building where people watch movies
- record
- the best result ever achieved
- money
- what people use to pay for things
- world
- the whole Earth and all its countries
- billion
- a very large number, one thousand million
- actor
- a person who plays a character in a movie
- opening
- the first days a movie is shown in theaters
Level 2 — Elementary
Spider-Man: Brand New Day, starring Tom Holland, has become the highest earning movie in the history of the North American box office, beating a record that had lasted for ten years.
The previous record belonged to Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which earned about 936.66 million dollars in the United States and Canada back in 2015. Spider-Man: Brand New Day passed that total after just 47 days in theaters.
The film has broken several other records too. It had the biggest opening weekend of any movie ever, earning about 360 million dollars in its first three days. It also became the fastest movie to reach 400 million dollars domestically, doing it in only four days.
Around the world, Spider-Man: Brand New Day has earned roughly 2.45 billion dollars so far, making it the third highest grossing film of all time, behind only Avatar and Avengers: Endgame.
- domestic
- relating to one's own country, here meaning the US and Canada market
- grossing
- earning a total amount of money before costs are subtracted
- box office
- the total money a movie earns from ticket sales
- opening weekend
- the first Friday through Sunday a movie is shown in theaters
- previous
- coming before the current one
- total
- the full amount added up
- release
- a movie that is made available to the public
- milestone
- an important point marking progress or achievement
Level 3 — Intermediate
Sony's Spider-Man: Brand New Day, the latest installment in the Tom Holland led franchise, has eclipsed Star Wars: The Force Awakens to become the highest grossing film in the history of the North American domestic box office, a record that had stood untouched for a full decade.
The Force Awakens had earned a cumulative 936.66 million dollars domestically since its 2015 release, a figure widely regarded as one of the more durable benchmarks in modern box office history. Spider-Man: Brand New Day overtook that total after only 47 days of release, a comparatively short run given how long the previous record had held.
The achievement is one of several milestones the film has notched during its theatrical run. It opened to approximately 360 million dollars, the largest opening weekend of any film ever released, and became the fastest movie to cross 400 million dollars domestically, accomplishing the feat in just four days.
Its performance abroad has been similarly formidable. The film's worldwide tally now stands at roughly 2.45 billion dollars, positioning it as the third highest grossing release of all time globally, trailing only Avatar, at 2.92 billion dollars, and Avengers: Endgame, at 2.799 billion dollars.
- installment
- one part of a series, such as a sequel in a film franchise
- eclipse
- to surpass or outshine something previously dominant
- cumulative
- increasing or building up by successive additions
- durable
- able to last a long time without significant change
- benchmark
- a standard or point of reference against which things are compared
- notch
- to achieve or record, as in an accomplishment
- tally
- a running count or total of something
- formidable
- impressively strong or capable, inspiring respect
Level 4 — Advanced
Sony's Spider-Man: Brand New Day has accomplished what once seemed an improbable feat in contemporary blockbuster economics, dislodging Star Wars: The Force Awakens from a decade long perch atop the North American domestic box office and, in doing so, retiring a benchmark that many in the industry had come to regard as functionally permanent.
The Force Awakens' cumulative domestic haul of 936.66 million dollars, amassed since its 2015 debut, had proven remarkably resilient against a decade of would be challengers, including several entries in the very franchise that has now surpassed it. That Brand New Day dislodged the record in a mere 47 days, rather than over years of cumulative theatrical exhibition and re-releases, speaks to an unusually front loaded earnings trajectory even by modern tentpole standards.
That trajectory was evident from the outset: the film's opening weekend gross of approximately 360 million dollars constituted the largest such debut in cinema history, and its subsequent pace to 400 million dollars domestically, achieved in a mere four days, further underscored the sheer velocity with which audiences converted anticipation into ticket purchases.
Internationally, the film's ascent has been no less pronounced, with a global tally now approaching 2.45 billion dollars that places it third on the all time worldwide chart, trailing only Avatar's 2.92 billion dollars and Avengers: Endgame's 2.799 billion dollars, a positioning that, taken together with its domestic supremacy, cements Brand New Day's status as one of the defining commercial phenomena of the contemporary blockbuster era.
- improbable
- not likely to happen or be true
- dislodge
- to force something out of a previously held position
- perch
- a position of prominence or advantage, often precarious
- resilient
- able to withstand or recover quickly from difficult conditions
- tentpole
- a major, high budget film expected to anchor a studio's success
- trajectory
- the path or pattern followed by a developing situation over time
- velocity
- speed, especially rapid speed of movement or change
- supremacy
- the state of being superior to all others in power or status
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