The Fantastic Four: First Steps has managed to avoid crashing and burning at the box office in the same way as Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts*. However, predictions for the reboot's second weekend in theaters are understandably raising eyebrows.
After opening to $117.6 million last week, the movie is expected to gross $40 million to $45 million over the next couple of days. On the lower side, that's a pretty steep 66% decline, which is better than Captain America: Brave New World (68%) but bigger than Thunderbolts* (56%). The latter somewhat benefited from marketing shifting to *The New Avengers.
These numbers suggest that The Fantastic Four: First Steps had a front-loaded debut, with fans rushing to see Marvel's First Family on the big screen again, but everyone else...not so much.
It's not all doom and gloom, though. The Fantastic Four: First Steps had a decent week in North America and should reach $200 million by Sunday. The Marvel Studios movie has already outgrossed every other feature starring this team, and it's received glowing reviews from fans and critics alike.
Those haven't been quite enough to help The Fantastic Four: First Steps soar to the same heights as Superman, suggesting there's a level of MCU fatigue. Disney's habit of flooding Disney+ with Marvel Studios content has also likely led to a change in the habits of moviegoers when it comes to this franchise.
We now have a year to wait until Spider-Man: No Way Home, and even longer than that for Avengers: Doomsday. That could be beneficial in the long run, and global numbers (which should hit later today) will give us a better idea of how The Fantastic Four: First Steps is performing overseas. Superman has excelled in the U.S., but struggled elsewhere; is the opposite true for Mister Fantastic and company? We'll see.
The Bad Guys 2 is expected to open to $22 million, with The Naked Gun eyeing a $16 million start. Superman, meanwhile, is looking at a $13.5 million haul, confirming that the Man of Steel hasn't been hurt by Marvel's First Family. If anything, the opposite could be true.
Stay tuned for more box office updates throughout the 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.
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.
The movie is now playing in theaters.