The Marvel family's initial foray into box office success has arrived. "The Fantastic Four: First Steps," the first movie featuring the superheroes produced under Kevin Feige's direction and the Walt Disney Co., generated $118 million during its opening weekend across 4,125 theaters in North America, as reported by studio estimates on Sunday.
This places it as the fourth highest opening of the year, following "A Minecraft Movie," "Lilo & Stitch," and "Superman," and marks the largest Marvel release since "Deadpool & Wolverine" earned $211 million on its first day last summer. Globally, "Fantastic Four" generated $100 million across 52 regions, resulting in a $218 million worldwide launch. The figures fell within the studio's projected range.
The movie was released following another major superhero revival, James Gunn's "Superman," which debuted three weekends prior and has already surpassed $500 million worldwide. This film, produced by DC Studios, the other major force in comic book movies, ranked second with $24.9 million within the country.
The financial triumph of "First Steps" and "Superman" suggests that "the idea of superhero fatigue, which has been widely discussed, can probably be laid to rest. I always argue it's bad movies that cause the fatigue, not superheroes," noted Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at data company Comscore.
"First Steps" is the most recent effort to introduce the superhuman family to the silver screen, after previous adaptations failed to impress. The movie, adapted from the original Marvel comics, takes place in the 1960s within a retro-futuristic setting, featuring the Fantastic Four, a group of astronauts who gained superhuman abilities after being exposed to cosmic rays during a space mission.
The group includes Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal), capable of stretching his body to extreme lengths; Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby), who can become invisible; Johnny Storm (Joseph Quinn), who turns into a flaming human torch; and Ben Grimm (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), who has immense superhuman strength along with his rocky skin.
The film is set four years after the family acquired their abilities, a period in which Reed's innovations have revolutionized technology, and Sue's negotiations have brought about worldwide harmony.
The movie received favorable reactions from both viewers and reviewers, with an 88% score on Rotten Tomatoes and encouraging exit poll results from those who bought tickets during its opening weekend. Approximately 46% of the audience opted to watch it on premium screens, such as IMAX and other big-format options.
The once-mighty Marvel is striving to restore audience excitement for its movies and characters. Its two recent releases this year failed to match the astronomical box office success of "Deadpool & Wolverine," which earned more than $1.3 billion, or the achievements of the "Avengers" era. However, the films have shown improvement in critical reception since the poorly received "Captain America: Brave New World," which ultimately made $415 million worldwide. "Thunderbolts," which kicked off the summer movie season, received better critical reviews but is expected to finish just above $382 million globally.
Similar to Deadpool and Wolverine, the characters from the Fantastic Four were associated with 20th Century Fox for many years. The studio released two films in the mid-2000s that were widely criticized but still managed to generate decent revenue, featuring future Captain America actor Chris Evans as the Human Torch. In 2015, they made another attempt (which failed) with Michael B. Jordan and Miles Teller. They received another opportunity following Disney's $71 billion purchase of Fox's entertainment divisions in 2019.
The initial weekend performance of "Fantastic Four" fell slightly short of some competing studio forecasts, according to Dergarabedian. However, the movie is still anticipated to boost cinema revenues through August.
The top 10 was mainly occupied by returning films, but another new release managed to enter the chart. The dark romantic comedy "Oh, Hi!" generated $1.1 million across 866 screens.
"Jurassic World Rebirth" secured third position in its fourth weekend with earnings of $13 million, while "F1" came in next with $6.2 million. The Brad Pitt motorsport film also surpassed $500 million worldwide. "Smurfs" completed the top five with $5.4 million during its second weekend.
The revenue has increased by more than 12% compared to the previous year.
Top 10 films based on domestic box office revenue
With the final domestic numbers announced on Monday, this list includes the projected ticket sales from Friday to Sunday at U.S. and Canadian cinemas, as reported by Comscore:
1. "The Fantastic Four: First Steps," with a budget of $118 million.
2. "Superman," $24.9 million.
3. "Jurassic World Rebirth," with a budget of $13 million.
4. "F1: The Movie," generating $6.2 million.
5. "Smurfs," $5.4 million.
6. "I Know What You Did Last Summer," generating $5.1 million.
7. "How to Train Your Dragon," generating $2.8 million.
8. "Eddington," $1.7 million.
9. "Saiyaara," $1.3 million.
10. "Oh, Hello!," valued at $1.1 million.