Sony Pictures Chairman and CEO Tom Rothman — who, if it weren’t for the Spider-Man movies, would have been fired by now (just look at the countless bombs he’s unleashed these last few years) — tells Deadline he’s decided to launch an all-out campaign for “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” including a very serious run at Best Picture.
The highest-grossing movie of all time, inflation notwithstanding, is aiming to land a spot among the coveted 10 Best Picture nominees. This is all Rothman’s idea, by the way. He’s going to pour millions into this campaign because he truly believes “Brand New Day” is a great movie.
The Academy is meant to recognize greatness. So, to be honest, I think it’s greatness. I think it’s received wisdom. If there aren’t people thinking about it, we’re gonna do what we can just to make people think about it,” Rothman told me this week. “I think it’s also incumbent upon studios who make these kinds of quality commercial films to get people to think about it, and here’s what I ask people when I walk around: ‘Are you telling me that there are 10 films this year that are better than this film?’
Yeah, actually, there were 10 movies better than “Brand New Day” released this year, Tom. By my count, there have been at least 50, maybe more. I’m not even kidding. I just looked through my list of good-to-great 2026 films, and “Brand New Day” wouldn’t even crack my top 50. In no particular order, and not ranked whatsoever:
“The Odyssey,” “Blue Heron,” “Nirvana the Band the Show the Movie,” “All of a Sudden,” “Fjord,” “Hope,” “La Gradiva,” “Resident Evil,” “Possible Love,” “Digger,” “You Can See Everything,” “Rose of Nevada,” “Obsession,” “Send Help,” “The Bone Temple,” “Club Kid,” “Coward,” “Minotaur,” “Paper Tiger,” “The Invite,” “Wild Horse Nine,” “I Play Rocky,” “The Debut,” “Your Mother Your Mother,” “A Long Winter,” “Primetime,” “Tender Loving Care,” “Misty Green,” “Project Hail Mary,” “Leviticus,” “Silent Friend,” “The Weight,” “The End of Oak Street,” “Tuner,” “Carolina Caroline,” “Power Ballad,” “Mile End Kicks,” “How to Make a Killing,” “Young Mothers,” “Hokum,” “Rose,” “Wasteman,” “Tony,” “The History of Concrete,” “The Dreamed Adventure,” “The Unknown,” “Everytime,” “Onslaught,” “Faces of Death,”
I’m sure I’m missing some. Anyway, my point is that of course the Sony boss would say “Brand New Day” deserves a Best Picture nomination, but to actually question whether there were 10 better films released this year is absolute delusion.
Take a look at the Gold Derby charts, which weigh expert, pundit and user predictions: “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” sits way down at No. 36, with a 0.46% chance of getting nominated. That’s well below “The Sheep Detectives” and just a few spots above “I Love Boosters.”
Of course, in that same Deadline interview, Rothman decided to slam Gold Derby:
I think, to be honest, it’s because there are things like Gold Derby, you know, whatever that is, that just tend to think only about the art film world, and look, I’m an art film guy. I made my bones in the art film world. I’m Mr. Searchlight, right? You know, my whole career, I love art films […] I think wise heads know that quality commercial filmmaking is extremely difficult, and to make a movie like this — never mind the fact that it’s the highest-grossing movie in the history of America, forget that. It’s in the 90s on Rotten Tomatoes for critics, it’s in the 90s for audiences on Rotten Tomatoes. Here’s the thing: the movie’s great. I’m a biased witness, but that’s not me, that’s objective. You don’t have the results that you have, where we had people seeing the movie two and three times. You don’t do close to a billion dollars in America. But are there 10 films that are better than this film, just in pure quality?
Rothman has hired awards consultants and is making big plans. His strategy calls for a “robust” run of screenings starting just before Thanksgiving, including multiple FYC Q&As with the filmmakers. Rothman himself plans to host screenings and tastemaker events.
I think Academy members would be interested in this because it’s very significant from a storytelling movie. This is really the first of these kinds of movies that I can think of that does not climax in a giant battle. In this movie, there is no giant action sequence at the end. The climax of this movie is two young people sitting on the edge of a bed, talking to each other and sharing their deepest pain […] This is the guy who made ‘Short Term 12.’ That’s what I say when I encourage people to see it, you know, people of my generation. I say you may take it for granted, you may think it’s just another one, but it isn’t. It’s really the first, when I think about it. I think it’s the first superhero movie that’s really a super-person movie.
To date, the only movies even remotely in the superhero universe to crack the Best Picture race have been “Black Panther” (2018) and “Joker” (2019). Good luck to all involved in this campaign.
This is all Rothman’s idea, by the way. He’s going to pour millions into this campaign because he believes “Brand New Day” is a great movie.