The latest box office numbers are in, and The Fantastic Four: First Steps suffered a steeper-than-estimated drop domestically after its second weekend in theaters.
Marvel Studios' reboot was expected to take in at least $40 million over the weekend, but only ended up making $38.7M (marking a 67% drop). The movie should hit $200 million later tonight, and is currently sitting at around $367 million worldwide on a reported production budget of $200 million.
There's been quite a bit of doomsaying (no pun intended) about these figures, but it is worth keeping in mind that First Steps is still performing better than both Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts* (it's actually already passed the latter's entire domestic cume) overall.
Some of the negativity likely stems from the perception that The Fantastic Four was always viewed as Marvel's biggest movie of the year, and was released to compete directly with DC Studios' Superman. Regardless, we can't imagine the studio is exactly ecstatic about these numbers.
Whether you happen to subscribe to the notion of "superhero fatigue" or not, it's clear that monster $1 billion hits like Deadpool and Wolverine have now become the exception rather than the norm.
First Steps stars Pedro Pascal (The Last of Us, The Mandalorian) as Reed Richards, aka Mr. Fantastic, Vanessa Kirby (Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning) as Sue Storm, aka the Invisible Woman, Joseph Quinn (Stranger Things, A Quiet Place Day One) as Johnny Storm, aka The Human Torch, Ebon Moss-Bachrach (The Punisher, The Bear) as Ben Grimm, aka the Thing, and Julia Garner (Wolf Man, Ozark) as the Silver Surfer.
Ralph Ineson plays Galactus, and Natasha Lyonne and Paul Walter Hauser are also on board in undisclosed roles. John Malkovich's Red Ghost has been cut from the movie.
"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."
The Fantastic Four: First Steps is now in theaters.