Marvel’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps is failing to stick the landing. After a strong $117.6 million debut, the superhero flick plummeted 66% in its second weekend, earning just $40 million—far steeper than expected.
Box office analysts predicted a 55-60% drop, but Fantastic Four fell harder than recent MCU flops like Ant-Man: Quantumania (-70%) and Thor: Love and Thunder (-67%). Even with positive reviews and little competition, the film is struggling to expand beyond its core fanbase.
So far, First Steps has grossed $198 million domestically and $368 million worldwide—enough to outpace Captain America: Brave New World ($415M) and Thunderbolts ($382M), but still far from Marvel’s glory days.
“Fantastic Four is not a top-tier Marvel franchise. Never has been,” says analyst Jeff Bock. “This ramps up into Avengers—that’s the real payoff.”
New Releases Battle for Attention
While Fantastic Four clung to #1, three new films entered the fray:
- The Bad Guys 2 ($22.8M) – The animated heist sequel matched its predecessor’s opening, scoring an “A” CinemaScore.
- The Naked Gun ($17M) – Liam Neeson’s slapstick reboot charmed critics (90% on RT) and older audiences.
- Together ($6.8M) – Neon’s body-horror shocker divided viewers (C+ CinemaScore) but made waves with its wild marketing (free couples therapy for traumatized pairs).
The Big Picture
- Superman (Week 4): $13.9M | $551M global
- Jurassic World Rebirth (Week 5): $8.4M | $766M global
- Summer 2024 box office: Up 9.5% from 2023 but still 23% behind pre-pandemic 2019.
Can the season hit $4 billion? “It’s no cakewalk, but it’s in play,” says analyst Paul Dergarabedian.
