THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS Faces A Steep Decline At The North American Box Office This Weekend

THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS Faces A Steep Decline At The North American Box Office This Weekend

The Fantastic Four: First Steps is performing better than other recent MCU movies at the North American box office, but the reboot is facing a steep decline during its second weekend in theaters...

By JoshWilding - Aug 02, 2025 04:08 AM EST
Filed Under: Fantastic Four
Source: Deadline

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.

THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS Concept Art Delivers An Awesome Alex Ross-Inspired Take On The Team
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THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS Concept Art Delivers An Awesome Alex Ross-Inspired Take On The Team

Paul Walter Hauser Shares His 3.5 Star Review Of THE FANTASTIC FOUR: I Wish They Hadn't Cut My Scene
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Paul Walter Hauser Shares His 3.5 Star Review Of THE FANTASTIC FOUR: "I Wish They Hadn't Cut My Scene"

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ObserverIO
ObserverIO - 8/2/2025, 4:15 AM
User Comment Image
ObserverIO
ObserverIO - 8/2/2025, 4:20 AM
HA! @RockReigns was wrong!!! He's said a 60% drop. It was even [frick]ing worse!!
User Comment Image
Flameon
Flameon - 8/2/2025, 10:20 AM
@ObserverIO - I hope Josh apologizes to @RockReigns because he called him a troll just for doing a valid analysis which turned out to be 110% accurate. Congrats by the way. I really think fans and critics have set a very low bar for this movie. It’s the most boring MCU movie to date
CorndogBurglar
CorndogBurglar - 8/2/2025, 10:29 AM
@Flameon - I think the bar has been set low for pretty much the entire MCU at this point.
RockReigns
RockReigns - 8/2/2025, 11:14 AM
@ObserverIO - I said $43M recently.

@AllIsGood can testify
RockReigns
RockReigns - 8/2/2025, 11:14 AM
@Flameon - Haha right??

No hard feelings @JoshWilding? 👍🙏
McMurdo
McMurdo - 8/2/2025, 4:45 PM
@Flameon - Eternals was far more boring but I agree FF is a bit of a slog lol
MonkeyBot
MonkeyBot - 8/2/2025, 4:25 AM
Imma watch it even harder
lazlodaytona
lazlodaytona - 8/2/2025, 8:17 AM
@MonkeyBot - that's my motto for everything in life
vectorsigma
vectorsigma - 8/2/2025, 4:32 AM
Imagine a milestone that even the historically bad DCEU did not reach.

3 films in a year all underperforming.

I hope marvel learns the right lessons and does the correct takeways from this
Sinner
Sinner - 8/2/2025, 4:37 AM
@vectorsigma - DCEU did that in 2023. Flash, Aquaman and Blue Beetle all flops
vectorsigma
vectorsigma - 8/2/2025, 4:44 AM
@Sinner - oh right! I stand corrected.

I guess it is a softer blow with Blue Beetle having less than 130M budget.

ObserverIO
ObserverIO - 8/2/2025, 5:08 AM
@vectorsigma - DCEU literally had 9 flops in a row.

10 if you count ZSJL which did get a limited theatrical release and cost an additional $70M to produce.
vectorsigma
vectorsigma - 8/2/2025, 5:15 AM
@ObserverIO - oh im not defending the dceu. I was just comparing a year of performance
SpiderParker
SpiderParker - 8/2/2025, 7:29 AM
@vectorsigma - It's not really a softer blow considering that DC's movies in 2023 cost around $540 million while Marvel movies this year cost $560 million without taking into account any marketing and re-shoot costs for either. While DC made only $840 million back from those 3 movies, Marvel has crossed a billion and is still going so you can probably expect $300 million more from Fantastic Four.

So, that milestone remains with DC for quite a long time, I'm sure.
dragon316
dragon316 - 8/2/2025, 7:40 AM
@Sinner - aquaman made billion sequel not to much
vectorsigma
vectorsigma - 8/2/2025, 7:41 AM
@SpiderParker - yep, i stand corrected on that.
lazlodaytona
lazlodaytona - 8/2/2025, 8:19 AM
@vectorsigma - dude, really? That's your go-to move since Superman is tracking better than F4? Three tail-end films from 2023 that were undercut by the introduction of a new universe at the beginning of the year ....
vectorsigma
vectorsigma - 8/2/2025, 8:25 AM
@lazlodaytona - what is my go to move again? I really dont get what you are saying 😅
SuperiorHeckler
SuperiorHeckler - 8/2/2025, 8:44 AM
@vectorsigma -
CAPTAIN FALCON:BNW (generally not well received)
THUNDERBOLTS (generally well received)
FANTASTIC FOUR (generally well received)

But they are ALL looking like box-office disappointments to one degree or another. The MCU has made some progress with its quality. However, outside of the singular 'Event Movies', this may very well be the new-normal for the MCU brand going forward. 🫤
vectorsigma
vectorsigma - 8/2/2025, 11:07 AM
@SuperiorHeckler - yeah, i agree, that is one positive in all of this. That they hace improved the quality of their movies.
McMurdo
McMurdo - 8/2/2025, 4:48 PM
@SpiderParker - yeah but the reshoot numbers on Cap 4 were heavy
lazlodaytona
lazlodaytona - 8/2/2025, 5:04 PM
@vectorsigma -

Neither Do I!!!
SpiderParker
SpiderParker - 8/3/2025, 1:12 AM
@McMurdo - I'm sure that was true for The Flash as well.
McMurdo
McMurdo - 8/3/2025, 8:58 AM
@SpiderParker - undoubtedly
LibraMatter
LibraMatter - 8/2/2025, 4:36 AM
Still really enjoyed it! They will still be in Avengers either way. Haters going to hate and to me, it is my favorite Fantastic Four movie.
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