Movie News From Around the World ¦ 3rd August 2026

World Movie News: The Last 24 Hours

Spider-Man just posted numbers nobody thought possible, British and Canadian screens have both lost a familiar face, Ariana Grande takes a step back and there’s a fresh crop of titles landing either side of the Atlantic this week.

Here’s what happened in the world of movies during the last 24 hours.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day has now confirmed its place in the record books: a $927 million global opening, the second-biggest worldwide debut ever behind only Avengers: Endgame, and a US domestic weekend of roughly $355 million. China alone delivered $121 million across its first five days — the biggest post-Covid superhero result there and IMAX’s best-ever Spider-Man opening in the territory — while the UK weekend came in at $49 million, the third-biggest of all time in that market. Combined with Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, which is closing in on $1 billion worldwide itself, the pair powered the single biggest collective box office weekend in history at roughly $430 million. With a run at $2 billion globally now firmly in play, Sony has to be thrilled with how the UK/US split of this rollout has paid off.

It’s a sadder story on the small screen. Canadian actor Scott Hylands, best known on both sides of the border as Detective Kevin “OB” O’Brien in the 1980s CTV/CBS police drama Night Heat — the first Canadian original series to air simultaneously in the US — has died at 83. Hylands, who’d been living with acute myeloid leukaemia since 2021, later became a familiar face in Fargo, playing Carrie Coon’s onscreen stepfather in season three, alongside guest turns in The X-Files, Stargate SG-1, Supernatural and NYPD Blue. He’s survived by his wife Veronica and their two children.

“Wicked” star Ariana Grande is to take a break from public life amid ‘endless’ scrutiny. After a period of intense media chatter and scrutiny about her looks and her general health, Grande is to withdraw from public appearances and will no longer star in an upcoming musical production in London when she ends her Eternal Sunshine tour next month. A representative for the US singer, 33, told People magazine that she “will be taking a step back from visibility” after her appearances led to “endless, ongoing public scrutiny”.

Elsewhere, it’s a fairly quiet week for major theatrical launches on both sides of the pond ahead of a busier mid-August slate:

• PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie opens in the UK this week ahead of its US bow;
• Eli Roth’s slasher Ice Cream Man continues its US rollout with a UK date still to be confirmed;
• In streaming news, Disney+ brings the Jonas Brothers-fronted Camp Rock 3 and Peacock has added Christopher Nolan’s Oscar winner Oppenheimer to its library, riding the wave of interest The Odyssey has generated in his back catalogue on both sides of the Atlantic; M
• Meanwhile the Michael Jackson biopic Michael has quietly become the highest-grossing music biopic in history after crossing $1 billion worldwide, overtaking Oppenheimer itself.

Ahead of Locarno wrapping its honours announcements and Edinburgh’s festival opening August 13, exhibitors on both sides of the Atlantic are bracing for what looks set to be one of the biggest single months at the UK/US box office in years.

More as the week’s news develops.

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That’s all for today.

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