As of writing, Spider-Man: Brand New Day has become the highest-grossing movie of 2026 by bringing in $1.155 billion worldwide during its first week in theaters.
I knew that people were excited to get their cinematic Spidey senses back, but I didn’t predict just how well the new Marvel movie would perform. I certainly don’t think it’s the strongest superhero movie we’ve seen in the last few years (more on that later), but Brand New Day‘s different format choices are certainly helping its appeal.
It’s understandable that we’re lapping up cinema being a more immersive experience when we’re paying out for it — just look at how well Christopher Nolan‘s The Odyssey performed in both its original IMAX 70mm format and in 4DX. But surprisingly, Brand New Day is the first feature-length movie to be shot purposefully for another format: ScreenX.
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But before we dig deeper into that what actually means, I come bearing a warning. Unless you’re specifically trying to see Spider-Man: Brand New Day in every possible format as a personal challenge, ScreenX is one to be avoided.
In fact, I’d urge to to pay out quite a lot extra to experience flying through New York’s skyscrapers in 4DX 3D instead.
How many formats can you watch Spider-Man: Brand New Day in?
The full list of Spider-Man: Brand New Day cinema formats look something like this:
- Standard DCP (Digital Cinema Package), 2D and 3D
- IMAX
- RPX (Regal Premium Experience) or Superscreen
- 4DX and 4DX 3D
- Dolby Cinema
- ScreenX
Not all of these formats are going to be available to everyone, so let’s use a local example. I’m based in the UK, and my beloved Cineworld membership means that I have access to DCP 2D and 3D within a 20-minute drive of my house.
If I’m happy to pay the travel fares for a trip into Central London, this also means that I can see Brand New Day in Superscreen (which is the British equivalent of RPX) and ScreenX if I pay an “uplift” fee on top of my membership’s monthly direct debit.
Annoyingly, I’ve got to wait for IMAX as The Odyssey is still selling out most venues across the South of the UK.
Cost-wise, this is what non-members are looking at:
- Standard: £16.99
- Superscreen: £20.99
- ScreenX: £21.99
- 4DX 3D: £30.99 (with an extra £1.25 for 3D glasses)
With my membership and “uplift” fee, my costs are this:
- Standard: no uplift fee
- Superscreen: no uplift fee
- ScreenX: £4
- 4DX 3D: £6
In the US, these costs will roughly look like the following:
- Standard: $16-$20
- RPX: $23-27
- IMAX: approx. $27
- ScreenX: approx. $29
- 4DX 3D: approx. $33
ScreenX: the basics
So what is ScreenX? Essentially, it’s a multi-projection cinematic technology that expands movies onto the left and right side walls of a theater (like you see in the above video).
This creates a 270-degree panoramic viewing experience using extra ceiling-mounted projectors — I counted two for each side during my Brand New Day screening.
Unlike 4DX, you’re not actually moving. Depending on which cinema you choose to go to, you’ll have the choice of regular or luxe recliner seating. As I was treating myself for the purpose of this piece, you can guess which one I decided on (and it was genuinely incredibly comfortable).
Currently, there are There are over 430 ScreenX auditoriums operating across 40 countries worldwide, which means, like me, you might have to pay extra travel fares to get to your closest theatre.
Up until now, ScreenX has typically been used for “key action or landscape scenes.” But surely this would change for the first feature film shot in the format… right?
Spider-Man: Brand New Day in ScreenX is an underwhelming experience — I’m not sure why Marvel bothered
In a word, no. Despite being filmed specifically for the format, Brand New Day still only uses its ScreenX capabilities in certain scenes — and I’ve got to wonder why Marvel bothered.
For context, this was my first time ever watching a movie in ScreenX, and I was fully expecting to be blown away. The novelty of watching scenes in 270-degrees lasted for all of a few minutes before I failed to understand what the impact of including my peripheral vision was intended to be.
Simply put, it felt as though ScreenX would hugely benefit from the inclusion of 4DX technology. Much like The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man ride at Universal Studios Florida, I wanted to be clinging onto my seat for dear life while being so visually immersed in flying through the air. The effect of ScreenX on its own left me unmoving, only wishing that I’d chosen a 4DX 3D screening across town instead.
The added insult to injury is that the 270-degree immersion didn’t last for the duration for the film as I’d hoped for. The constant format changing between 270 to standard was incredibly jarring, and took me out away from the magic of the viewing experience itself, and even what was narratively happening throughout the movie.
For the travel sick among us, I interestingly found that ScreenX made me feel a lot more nauseous than 4DX ever has. Where I had worried about leaving my Kwells tablets at home before Odysseus (Matt Damon) got battered at sea in The Odyssey‘s 4DX screening, I hadn’t even thought about it here — which was a mistake.
It’s difficult to know how much of my ScreenX judgement is clouded by the fact that I thought Spider-Man: Brand New Day was merely… fine. Instead of watching the new movie in a standard format first before heading to a specialist format for a rewatch, I took the plunge with ScreenX first time around.
The CGI is often ropey at points, and I found the pacing of Peter Parker’s (Tom Holland) re-reveal to MJ (Zendaya) and Ned (Jacob Batalon) to be tortuously slow. However, judging by my TechRadar colleagues’ feedback, this was the overwhelming sentiment regardless of which format you watched the film in.
If studios want to film movies in ScreenX in the future, my advice is this: either use the 270-degree projection for the entire duration, or don’t bother at all. It feels incredibly non-committal to wheel the technology out as a novelty showpiece for a few minutes before neglecting it, and it doesn’t do overall artistry or the immersive experience any favors.
Instead, pour your efforts and resources into making 4DX screenings sing, or do a full Nolan and shoot entirely in IMAX (something which can be sustained for a film’s full runtime).
A half-hearted gimmick is one that never works, but maybe that’s a marketing ploy in itself — now I only ever want to see action-adventure movies in 4DX, meaning cinemas have secured the highest level of ticket costing possible from me.
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jasmine.valentine@futurenet.com (Jasmine Valentine)
