GULF NEWS : Dubai: The biggest film of the year is not finished yet.

Sony is planning to re-release Spider-Man: Brand New Day in cinemas with new footage, according to Variety, which says it has confirmed the plan. TheWrap reported the same, adding that Sony had no comment.

No release date has been announced, and nobody has said what the new scenes contain.

Why Sony would do it

There is one record left, and it is within reach.

Brand New Day has taken around $950.7 million in North America, about Dh3.49 billion. No film has ever crossed $1 billion, roughly Dh3.67 billion, from the domestic market alone. Variety's assessment is blunt: without a re-release, that milestone is probably out of reach.

The timing follows a proof of concept. Avengers: Endgame Encore, the re-release carrying new footage that sets up Avengers: Doomsday, topped the North American box office last weekend with $26 million, around Dh95 million, seven years after the original opened.

If a Spider-Man re-issue lands before Doomsday arrives on 18 December, it also gives Marvel another platform to build interest in that film.

Where the numbers stand

Released on 31 July, Brand New Day has grossed roughly $2.5 billion worldwide, around Dh9.2 billion.

That makes it the third highest-grossing film ever, behind Avatar at $2.92 billion and Avengers: Endgame at $2.88 billion, and ahead of Avatar: The Way of Water and Titanic.

It opened with $360 million in North America, about Dh1.32 billion, the biggest domestic debut in history, and $927 million worldwide across its first weekend. On 16 September it passed Star Wars: The Force Awakens to become the highest-grossing domestic release of all time, taking a record that had stood for more than a decade at $936 million.

It spent six weeks at number one.

What the new footage might be

Nothing has been confirmed, but one candidate is already public.

Actor Rosario Dawson said at GalaxyCon in Raleigh last month that she shot a scene for the film that did not make the final cut. She plays Claire Temple, who has not appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe for eight years.

"I even shot a scene in the new Spider-Man movie, but I got cut out," she said.

The India record

The film's performance in India was historic in its own right.

It opened on more than 5,000 screens, the widest Hollywood release the market has seen, and took around ₹61 crore net on its first day, a Thursday, which was the biggest opening ever for a Hollywood film there. Gross figures for that opening day were put at ₹72.44 crore, roughly Dh30 million, with close to a million admissions.

Its four-day extended opening weekend brought in ₹328.5 crore, around Dh137 million. It has since passed ₹500 crore gross in India, about Dh209 million, making it the highest-grossing Hollywood release the market has ever had, ahead of Avengers: Endgame.

About the film
Destin Daniel Cretton directed, from a screenplay by Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers, with Kevin Feige and Amy Pascal producing. It is the 38th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Tom Holland returns as Peter Parker, rebuilding his life after a spell erased him from the memories of everyone who knew him, while facing a threat he cannot see. Zendaya, Jacob Batalon, Sadie Sink, Jon Bernthal, Mark Ruffalo, Tramell Tillman, Florence Pugh and Michael Mando also feature.

Sony spent around $225 million making it, about Dh826 million, before marketing.