Tom Holland’s next paycheck for playing Spider-Man could top $100 million, thanks to an uncapped box office bonus built into his new deal for SPIDER-MAN: BRAND NEW DAY, sources told TheWrap.
“He’s the new Robert Downey Jr.,” one media executive told TheWrap, comparing Holland’s rising fortunes to Downey’s leap from journeyman actor to Hollywood’s highest-paid star during his run as Iron Man.
That comparison will land differently for Movieguide® readers who’ve watched this franchise’s box office climb for years. Movieguide® gave SPIDER-MAN: BRAND NEW DAY a perfect four-star rating for entertainment value, calling it “a terrific, heartfelt action adventure.”
Holland, 30, negotiated the new pay structure with agents Andrew Dunlap, James Farrell and Liam Buckley of WME, along with attorney Robert Offer. The deal reportedly guarantees a base salary of at least $20 million — a $10 million jump from his last SPIDER-MAN movie — plus backend bonuses with no ceiling.
Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios have good reason to be generous. SPIDER-MAN: BRAND NEW DAY, directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, opened to $360 million domestically, the biggest opening weekend in box office history, and has already crossed $2 billion worldwide in just its third week of release.
Related: SPIDER-MAN: BRAND NEW DAY Swings Into Top 10 Highest-Grossing Movies Ever
That trajectory marks an enormous leap from where Holland started. He earned a reported $250,000 for his debut as the web-slinger in CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR back in 2016, then $500,000 for SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING, $4 million for SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME and $10 million for SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME. One source told TheWrap Holland “will make at least” $100 million once his bonuses settle.
Movieguide® has tracked this franchise’s box office muscle before. Coverage of NO WAY HOME’s record-setting run noted that movies “with more redemptive content” tend to outperform “their gratuitous counterparts” at the box office.
BRAND NEW DAY appears to follow that same pattern, at least in part. Movieguide®’s review found that “Peter Parker becomes a Christ figure, risking his own life to save another human being’s,” and praised the hero for urging a villain toward redemption rather than revenge.
Still, the review’s “Extreme Caution” rating is worth remembering alongside the box office headlines. The nearly 40 profanities scattered through the runtime include one strong misuse of Jesus’s name and six harsher expletives — a detail the review says undercuts a movie “that works this hard to make its hero a picture of Christ.”
For families weighing whether Holland’s blockbuster payday translates into a worthwhile movie night, that tension matters more than his contract’s size. A movie can carry a genuinely redemptive arc and still hand out language most Christian households would rather not hear. Box office numbers don’t replace discernment.
Sony has not publicly confirmed the exact terms of Holland’s new deal. Whatever the final figure, BRAND NEW DAY has already cemented itself as one of the year’s biggest movies, and Holland’s Spider-Man remains one of Hollywood’s most bankable good guys.
Read Next: Here’s When SPIDER-MAN: BRAND NEW DAY Might Hit Streaming
Questions or comments? Please write to us here.
