UPDATE: The final figures won't be in until Monday morning, but here's the latest from today:
Weapons and Freakier Friday have opened in theaters this weekend, and the two vastly different movies are exceeding expectations at the North American box office. However, good news for them is not-so-great news for The Fantastic Four: First Steps.
Weapons is heading for a $38 million debut, including Thursday's $5.7 million previews. This marks the 11th time this year that a Warner Bros. title has sat in first place, good news for a studio that had a pretty disastrous 2024.
Moviegoers awarded filmmaker Zach Cregger's latest horror movie an A- CinemaScore. On Rotten Tomatoes, Weapons has 96% from critics and 89% on the Popcornmeter.
As for Freakier Friday, that's eyeing a $30 million opening weekend, a solid start for a movie that only cost $45 million to produce. The Disney title has been awarded 73% by critics and 94% from moviegoers on Rotten Tomatoes, and beat Weapons with a highly sought-after A CinemaScore.
What does this mean for Marvel's First Family? Following an estimated $5 million on Friday, it looks set to make $16 million - $18 million during its third weekend in theaters, a 56% drop (which is still much better than its steep 66% decline during its second frame).
That falls short of this week's $20 million projections, but at this rate, The Fantastic Four: First Steps will have reached $231 million - $233 million in the U.S. by the end of Sunday.
In our review of The Fantastic Four: First Steps, we concluded, "The Fantastic Four is an exceptional introduction to the MCU’s First Family, and thanks to a Jack Kirby-infused feel that’s unlike anything we’ve seen before, it proves to be a quintessential superhero movie with Marvel Studios at its brilliant best.
Rounding out the top five are DreamWorks Animation's The Bad Guys 2 ($10.5 million) and The Naked Gun ($8.15 million).
What did you watch in theaters this weekend?
Set against the vibrant backdrop of a 1960s-inspired, retro-futuristic world, Marvel Studios' The Fantastic Four: First Steps introduces Marvel’s First Family—Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic (Pedro Pascal), Sue Storm/Invisible Woman (Vanessa Kirby), Johnny Storm/Human Torch (Joseph Quinn) and Ben Grimm/The Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) as they face their most daunting challenge yet.
Forced to balance their roles as heroes with the strength of their family bond, they must defend Earth from a ravenous space god called Galactus (Ralph Ineson) and his enigmatic Herald, Silver Surfer (Julia Garner). And if Galactus’ plan to devour the entire planet and everyone on it weren’t bad enough, it suddenly gets very personal.
Also appearing are Natasha Lyonne as Rachel Rozman, Paul Walter Hauser as Harvey Elder/Mole Man, Sarah Niles as Lynne Nichols, and Mark Gatiss as Ted Gilbert. John Malkovich was set to play Red Ghost, but was cut due to time constraints.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps is directed by Matt Shakman from a screenplay by Josh Friedman and Eric Pearson and Jeff Kaplan & Ian Springer.
The movie is now playing in theaters.