Spider-Man Brand New Day's success will help Avengers Doomsday at box office, predicts Sony India head | Interview

Shony Panjikaran, General Manager & Head of Sony Pictures Releasing International, India, talks to HT about Spider-Man: Brand New Day's box-office run.

Updated on: Sep 2, 2026, 11:11:49 IST

By Abhimanyu Mathur

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As we write this, Spider-Man: Brand New Day has become the third-highest-grossing film of all time. With over $2.335 billion gross worldwide, the fourth solo Tom Holland Spidey film has now out-earned all Marvel films bar one - Avengers: Endgame. Many argue that this windfall is a result of Brand New Day releasing ahead of Avengers: Doomsday, Marvel’s tentpole for later this year. But the makers of the Sony-Marvel joint production feel that Spider-Man has enough legs to stand on its own, and if anything, it may have helped Doomsday with its stupendous run.

The Hulk and Spider-Man in Brand New Day.

Shony Panjikaran on Brand New Day's success

Spider-Man: Brand New Day is on the cusp of crossing ₹500 crore net ( ₹600 crore gross) in India. It is already the highest-grossing Hollywood film in India, beating Avengers: Endgame’s $61 million mark. Brand New Day has earned $65 million and counting. Talking about this run, Shony Panjikaran, General Manager & Head of Sony Pictures Releasing International, India, says, “I don't think we had a timeline in mind. We just knew we had a wonderful film. I think Destin (the director) did a great job with this one after No Way Home (the previous Spider-Man film). We knew it was going to be big. We knew we would be ahead of all the other Hollywood films. It's just that we didn't know that it would be so soon.”

But Shony reiterates that their goal was for Spider-Man: Brand New Day to become the highest-grossing non-Indian film in India, and they were confident they could achieve it. “We just knew that by the end of the run we could be number one, but yes, it's a pleasant surprise for us,” he says.

Shony also does not subscribe to the theory that Brand New Day’s success is due to the hype for Avengers: Doomsday, which releases in December. “It's the other way round, I feel. I don't think we have got anything from the other film that you mentioned (Doomsday). I think that film will benefit from us. I think Spider-Man, to be honest, is a big brand in India, and we saw that,” he reasons.

All about the film

Part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Brand New Day stars Tom Holland as Spider-Man, aka Peter Parker, and also brings back Zendaya as MJ and Jacob Batalon as Ned. The film sees Peter Parker living entirely on his own as Spider-Man in a world that doesn't remember him. Amid the mounting pressure of seeing his old friends move on without him, Spider-Man comes across new dangers with the entrance of villains. Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, the film also stars Sadie Sink, Mark Ruffalo, and Jon Bernthal in pivotal roles.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Abhimanyu Mathur
Abhimanyu Mathur is Deputy Editor, Entertainment at Hindustan Times. With almost 15 years of experience in writing about everything from films and TV shows to cricket matches and elections, he inhales and exhales pop culture and news. Currently, he watches movies and TV shows and talks to celebrities for a living, while occasionally writing about them as well. A journalism graduate of Delhi College of Arts and Commerce, Delhi University, Abhimanyu began his career with Hindustan Times at the age of 20, swapping classrooms for newsrooms at an early age. He began his journey in the early days of digital journalism, later switching to the madness of print journalism. Work has led him to far off places like Japan and Jordan, as well as to the interiors of Haryana and the Indo-Pak border. He dabbled in city reporting in places like Meerut, Gurgaon, and Delhi, covered the Olympics and Cricket World Cups, before finding his calling in entertainment and lifestyle during the pandemic. A Rotten Tomatoes Certified Film Critic, he is equally at home covering stories on ground as he is interviewing celebrities and studios, and sometimes prefers to shepherd teams in delivering traffic through the day. Even as his role has evolved from reporter to supervisor over the years, his first love remains writing (and of late, talking on camera). With a good understanding of cinema and its trends, and a keen eye for detail, he continues to spark conversations around showbiz for readers around the world.Read More

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