Tom Rothman on Sony’s ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ Blockbuster Success, Being Outbid for ‘Obsession’ and More
Moviegoing is back because movies are cool again. That was the message from Sony Pictures chief Tom Rothman on Monday during a conversation about the global nature of Sony’s film business held Monday during the Lumiere Summit in France.
Rothman, chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment‘s Motion Picture Group, broke down the numbers delivered by the studio’s summer smash “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” and the overall strength that other major studios have enjoyed this summer with a robust slate of movies. Rothman spoke during the Lumiere gathering of leaders in the film and content industries from more than 60 countries that hosted by the French government in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, near Nice.
Since its July 31 release, “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” has spun up a whopping $2.4 billion at the global box office, including $923 million domestically. About the success of the film, Rothman joked, “First of all, I can’t be wrong all the time. It’s against the law of averages.”
More seriously, he said, “For a result like that to happen, everything has to work perfectly.” Rothman praised the “incredibly talented” team that worked on the films, including star Tom Holland, who “has been our partner in this for over a decade now,” as well as the support of Disney and Marvel.
Why have audiences turned out in droves to see it? Rothman said “Brand New Day” is “not so much a superhero film, but ‘super-person’ film. The reason that movie has resonated all around the world is because it’s about a lonely guy… It’s like yeah, it’s about friendship. It’s very human. It’s very emotional,” he said during the conversation with Cynthia Littleton, Variety co-Editor in Chief. “It’s got plenty of whiz-bang, but that’s not what the secret is. The secret is it’s a relatable story that almost everybody has related to.”
Rothman pointed to the success of Universal Pictures’ “The Odyssey,” Focus Features’ “Obsession” and Disney’s “Toy Story 5” this summer as clear evidence that audiences will turn out at the multiplexes for the right properties. For the first time since the industry suffered the double-whammy of COVID shutdowns followed by the 2023 writers and actors strikes, the industry this year has had a steady rollout of strong films that represent an array of genres — not just superheroes. Rothman emphasized that “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” was built around the emotional life of Peter Parker after a big storyline reset at the closing of 2021’s “Spider-Man: No Way Home.”
Referring to the opening session at the Lumière Summit, at which French President Emmanuel Macron and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung unveiled a $1.16 billion entertainment industry financing partnership, Rothman said, “We had three presidents today: The president of France, the president of Korea. And you have Mr. Clooney, the president of Hollywood” — gesturing to George Clooney, who was sitting in the front row.
Alluding to Mark Twain’s famous quote, Rothman said this summer in particular has demonstrated that the death of the theatrical business has been greatly exaggerated. This summer, “movies were cool,” Rothman said. “They became cultural again… because they were culturally significant.”
In particular, Rothman called out “Obsession,” the low-budget horror film reportedly made for $700,000 that has banked nearly $510 million at the global box office. He said the success of “Obsession” shows that “it’s a misnomer that young people won’t go to movies.”
Sony Pictures was outbid for Curry Barker’s “Obsession” by “a couple million dollars” by Universal’s Focus Features, which reportedly paid $14 million for the rights. When Sony was outbid, Rothman joshed, “I was outraged.” But, he added, “I would like to have that moment back. I congratulate the worthy opposition.”
Speaking about Sony’s global film business, Rothman said that Netflix “was brave enough at the time” to finance animated musical movie “K-Pop Demon Hunters,” which has become the streamer’s most-viewed film ever. “That is a deeply Korean, culturally relevant film,” he said.
The key having a globally resonant film or TV show, Rothman said, is to have it be specific to a time and place. “Specificity leads to universality,” he said. “I have seen it many times in my career.” Sony, for example, now has a big Japanese anime business, “and it does great.”
“Stories are the things that… become our cultural heritage,” said Rothman.
Rothman joined Sony Pictures in 2013 as chairman of TriStar Pictures before being promoted to chairman of Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group in February 2015 and then chairman/CEO in 2021. Previously, he was head of Fox Filmed Entertainment from 2000 to 2012.