‘Fantastic Four’ Box Office: ‘First Steps’ Pacing for $120M-$125M Launch in Notable Win for Marvel
Mister Fantastic and his family have cleared the launch pad in high style.
Director Matt Shakman‘s topped Friday’s chart in North America with a huge $57 million, ahead of tracking and putting it on course for a franchise-best debut in the $120 million-$125 million range in a seminal win for ‘s (rivals are betting on the higher end). And it’s already crossed the $100 million mark globally after earning $49.2 million in its first few days overseas for an early worldwide tally of $106.2 million through Friday.
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The acclaimed superhero pic boasts the second-biggest opening day of the year to date domestically behind A Minecraft Movie ($57.1 million). That included $24.4 million in Thursday previews, which was the best preview gross of the year to date after supplanting DC’s Superman ($22.5 million), and the biggest preview number for any movie since fellow Marvel title Deadpool & Wolverine a year ago ($38.5 million).
The early performance of First Steps, which is winning over critics and audiences, is welcome news for the Disney-owned Marvel, where Feige and his team are looking for redemption after a rough few years (Deadpool & Wolverine being the exception). If projections hold — and again, besides Deadpool 3 — the Fantastic Four reboot will mark the best domestic opening for Marvel since 2022’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. And so far, the movie is pacing slightly head of Superman.
Also on Friday, Disney became the first Hollywood studio to cross $3 billion in global ticket sales.
Superman debuted to a successful $125 million domestically two weeks ago and $95 million overseas, where it is coming in behind expectations due to the pro-American themes long tied to the comic-book character. Fantastic Four should have an upper hand over Superman overseas internationally, considering that the previous films in the franchise made by 20th Century Fox did more of their business offshore.
The New York City-set First Steps, which is earning raves for its early 1960s retro-style, stars Pedro Pascal as scientific genius Reed Richards, who leads a space expedition with his wife, Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby); her brother, Johnny Storm (Joseph Quinn); and piloted by their good friend Ben Grimm (Ebon Moss-Bachrach). When their rocket ship encounters a cosmic storm, it alters their DNA, returning them to Earth with superpowers.
The new film picks up after the four have returned and have become become worldwide heroes. But there is no time to rest on their laurels. They must return to space when Earth is visited by the Silver Surfer (Julia Garner), who warns that the planet is about to be destroyed by a cosmic entity named Galactus.
In terms of the box office, the hope is that Fantastic Four will play to both families and fanboys/fangirls alike, which should help combat lingering superhero fatigue at the box office. It’s earning glowing responses from moviegoers, including an A- CinemaScore, stellar exits on PostTrak and a 93 percent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. Reviewers are responding much the same. “The pleasing back-to-basics feel in The Fantastic Four: First Steps suggests Marvel has learned valuable lessons from its recent box office underperformers. There’s a fresh willingness to prioritize character over the usual barrage of interchangeable CG action sequences that often overwhelm them, instead giving us relatable folks to invest in,” Hollywood Reporter chief film critic David Rooney writes in his review. “The eponymous quartet may have superpowers, but they are also a family, struggling like most of us to handle the most daunting responsibilities life throws our way.”
Elsewhere, Superman is holding in nicely even as it loses Imax screens to Fantastic Four. The DC and Warner Bros. pic should finish its third weekend with nearly $300 million in domestic ticket sales and north of $500 million globally.
Universal and Amblin’s Jurassic World: Rebirth is also celebrating. It will cross $300 million domestically this weekend after clearing $600 million globally a week ago.
July 26, 8:18 a.m.: Updated with revised estimates.
This story was first published on July 25 at 8:08 a.m.
