Spider-Man: Brand New Day

US blockbuster Spider-Man: Brand New Day is set to hit movie screens in the Chinese mainland on Wednesday, two days before the North American market, further intensifying one of China's most competitive summer movie seasons.

Marvel's Spider-Man: Brand New Day and fantasy epic The Odyssey directed by Christopher Nolan are among the most highly anticipated foreign films of this year's summer movie season. Despite encouraging presales, a Chinese film critic is not optimistic about the box-office prospects of either film in the Chinese market. The Odyssey is set to be released in the Chinese mainland on August 14. 

The prescreening and advance ticket sales for Spider-Man: Brand New Day have already generated more than 70 million yuan ($10.34 million) in box-office revenue as of Monday, while the film's opening-day box office could exceed 200 million yuan, Lai Li, an analyst at ticketing platform Maoyan, told the Global Times on Monday.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day beat the entire pre-sales total of Jurassic World Dominion at the box office in China on Sunday, according to a report by entertainment site koimoi.com. 

At a fan event in Shanghai on July 24, leads Tom Holland and Zendaya shared behind-the-scenes stories and reflected on their experiences making the film.

However, film critic Shi Wenxue told the Global Times that the while the film is likely to appeal to Marvel's loyal fan base, it may struggle to attract new audiences.

Chinese audiences have grown weary of superhero films, while Hollywood's storytelling formula has also begun to lose its appeal in the Chinese market, Shi noted. 

The Odyssey

Based on Greek mythology, The Odyssey may face cultural barriers in connecting with Chinese audiences. Its current rating (8.2/10) on review platform Douban also falls short of the scores earned by Nolan's earlier works, such as Oppenheimer and The Dark Knight.

The two films will also face fierce competition in the current summer movie season. 

As of Monday afternoon, the total box office of summer 2026 (including advance ticket sales) has exceeded 5.8 billion yuan, over 1 billion yuan higher than the same period in 2025.

Stephen Chow's Kung Fu Soccer, fantasy animated drama All Wishes Come True and Dear You currently rank as the top three highest-grossing films of this year's summer movie season, according to Maoyan. 

More than 120 Chinese and foreign films are to be released during this year's summer movie season, covering a wide range of genres including history, comedy, action, animation and science fiction.

Chinese animated film Three Kingdoms: The Beginning and sci-fi film The Decisive Moment have been pulled from theaters over the weekend after struggling to meet expectations and will be re-released at a later date.