The Marvel Cinematic Universe's The Fantastic Four: First Steps has already taken its first steps towards box office success. The latest Marvel movie, First Steps, reintroduces Marvel's first family and comes just two weeks after the DC Universe shocked the box office with Superman's impressive debut. Marvel hopes to match DC's success after a slow post-pandemic trajectory.
The box office has been dominated recently by summer blockbusters after a relatively slow start to the year. James Gunn's Superman, Ari Aster's Eddington, and the ever-present dinosaur epic Jurassic World Rebirth have been ruling the summer. A few other scattered projects have also been released, including the horror-driven I Know What You Did Last Summer.
According to a report by Deadline, First Steps is expected to dominate the weekend with a strong start, as it should earn between $120 million and $125 million in its first weekend. The high end of those projections would perfectly match James Gunn's Superman's opening weekend, putting the two releases head-to-head.
With Superman dealing with a -58% drop in its third weekend, nothing else earned over $30 million, meaning that this weekend was as close as it comes to a Marvel sweep. Check out the chart below, which showcases this weekend's Top 5:
# | Title | 3-Day Total | Cumulative (Domestic) |
|---|---|---|---|
The only major change in the charts this weekend was The Fantastic Four: First Step's debut, which forced I Know What You Did Last Summer out of the top 5 in its second weekend. With just $5 million projected after a -61% drop, it simply could not match the more family-friendly releases.
Pixar's Elio, which earned a place as the No. 8 movie last week, has completely fallen off the charts. How to Train Your Dragon fell to No. 7, thanks to a $2.79 million weekend, and Eddington's -64% drop saw it fall to No. 9. It is projected to be a fairly quiet weekend, outside the MCU's notable hit.
What This Means For The Box Office
Fantastic Four Is A Cut Above
This came at the perfect time for the studio, which needed to improve its reputation. After years of decline from Marvel, First Steps has already proven to be a much-needed relief. Its opening weekend is projected to outperform Thunderbolts* ($74 million), Captain America: Brave New World ($89 million), and even James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 ($118 million).
Among Marvel's post-COVID releases, it sits behind only Deadpool & Wolverine ($211 million), Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (181 million), Thor: Love and Thunder ($144 million), Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (187 million), and Spider-Man: No Way Home ($260 million). First Steps is the only non-sequel among those releases, which is a notable accomplishment for the studio.
The other new releases were unable to muster enough attention to pose a true fight. After all, Fantastic Four earned more than everything else at the box office combined. This weekend saw an overall total of $194 million, of which the superhero movies combined for $145-$150 million. Despite accusations of superhero fatigue, this weekend indicates that the genre remains prominent.
Unfortunately, the rest of the box office is doing a lot. With Smurfs' $58 million budget, it will need to lean on its overseas performance to make up for its $22 million domestic total. The $25 million Eddington is facing similar challenges, given its $8 million overall total. The box office remains tumultuous, leading to some disappointing results.
Our Take On The Weekend Box Office
The MCU Needed A Win
After years of ridicule coming on the tail end of Fantastic Four's (2015) disappointing debut, this is the first taste of success for Marvel's First Family in years. It came at the perfect time, as the MCU needed to refocus on theatrical releases and quality over quantity in the wake of several consecutive disappointing box office performances.
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