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The British actor Tom Holland is expected to “make at least $100m” for starring in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, according to the Wrap.
Unnamed sources “with knowledge of Holland’s deal” say he was paid $20m (£15m) upfront, about double what he reportedly received for his previous Spider-Man film No Way Home in 2021. But the extraordinary success of Brand New Day at the global box office means the 30-year-old is expected to earn another $80m or more in backend bonuses.
In only its third week of release, Brand New Day has become the eighth highest grossing film of all time (unadjusted for inflation), and surpassed $2bn in ticket sales. And of the eight films that have reached this box office milestone, it is second-fastest to have done so. (Avengers: Endgame, released in 2019, was the fastest.)
Holland’s reported salary represents a vast increase from his previous performances in the role. When he first played Spider-Man, in a relatively brief but significant appearance in Captain America: Civil War (2016), he was reportedly paid $250,000. For the next three Spider-Man films in which he starred, Homecoming (2017), Far from Home (2019), and No Way Home, he was reportedly paid $500,000, $4m and $10m respectively. But his initial contract is thought to have expired after the end of No Way Home, and the hugely increased remuneration is the result of a freshly negotiated new deal.
Brand New Day’s success comes as audiences’ interest in films set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and in superhero films as a whole, had been waning. In 2023, The Marvels grossed only $206m against a reported production budget (that is, not including distribution and marketing costs) of $270m. In 2024, Madame Web – about a character with direct ties to Spider-Man – made only $100m against an $80m budget. And in 2025, Variety reported that Marvel had released “three consecutive commercial duds”: Captain America: Brave New World ($415m, in contrast to the $1.15bn the previous Captain America film earned in 2016); Thunderbolts ($382m, against a $180m production cost) and “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” ($521m, against a production budget of $200m).
The box office dominance of Spider Man: Brand New Day comes in a remarkable year for Holland, during which he also appeared as Telemachus in the second most financially successful film of 2026, Christopher Nolan’s acclaimed adaptation of The Odyssey ($1.3bn in ticket sales), and married Zendaya, his co-star in both films.
The Guardian has contacted Sony Pictures for comment.
