“Fantastic Four: First Steps” Stumbles During 2nd Week at the Box Office

The MCU’s latest live-action offering, Fantastic Four: First Steps, had a not-so-fantastic stumble, falling almost 66% during the second weekend at the box office.

I think it’s time to accept that not every superhero movie is going to make big bucks like they used to. Gone are the days when everything the MCU touched would turn incredibly profitable, prompting the studio to create another series of films around characters the general audience wasn’t hyping up before their big-screen debut (*cough* Ant-Man *cough*).

Compared to the likes of the X-Men, Spider-Man, and (in a way) The Avengers, the Fantastic Four haven’t experienced a lot of global hype (whether it be comics, video games, or other media) as a team of superheroes. Studios have tried to launch Marvel’s First Family a couple of times over the decades to varying results (often poor), and it looks like fate repeated itself when the House of Mouse decided to give it a try.

It really says something when the most popular version of the Fantastic Four brand still happens to be the animated The Incredibles IP.

Talking about the numbers, Fantastic Four: First Steps experienced an almost 66% fall at the box office during its second weekend, being able to bring in an estimated $40 million domestically. The current domestic haul stands at $198.4 million, with the international gross being $170 million. As predicted, FF: First Steps is struggling to find a global audience similar to Superman.

Having brought up Superman, while the international total is $235 million, it did make $13.9 million this weekend, pushing the domestic total over $316 million, surpassing The Man of Steel‘s $291 million domestic haul. Now, while the recent Superman is unlikely to match the $670 million the Henry Cavill movie was able to bring in globally back in 2013, the current domestic numbers are still being hailed as a major win for fans of James Gunn’s DCEU.

With a reported budget of $225 million, Superman has managed to break even (according to some analysts) by crossing $551.3 million worldwide. However, such expensive movies are meant to do more than just break even for studios. So, it will be interesting to see how James Gunn and Warner Bros. handle creating the new DCEU.

Coming back to FF: First Steps, the reported budget is supposed to be $200 million, with the break even point being marked at $500 million. As of the writing of this post, the movie has managed to gross $368.7 million worldwide. The second weekend drop has made certain analysts state the action film might not even manage that if the trend continues. I meant, if that happens, then… ufff!!

According to rumors, Reed Richards is supposed to serve a vital role in the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday. However, with these numbers, I wouldn’t be surprised if his role gets impacted due to the project still being filmed with a not-so-final script.

Before the FF: First Steps stans come for me, let me say that I enjoyed watching it, but as mentioned in my review, I think it had certain storytelling issues due to it being a film meant to introduce a whole set of new characters in a reality that’s separate from the main MCU.

As for the animated film The Bad Guys 2, it debuted with $22 million. Starring Sam Rockwell, Anthony Ramos, Zazie Beetz, Danielle Brooks, and more, I found it to be a fun time. However, I can completely understand folks waiting to catch it on Digital instead of heading to theaters.

I liked some of the visuals and humor.

You can watch my review below!

Another new movie I watched was The Naked Gun starring Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson. It opened to $17 million against a reported production budget of $42 million.

The slapstick action comedy won’t be for everyone, but it got a bunch of laughs from me. I enjoyed how it spoofed certain pop culture references. Also, the winter cabin sequence was amazing!

August 1 – August 3, 2025 Weekend Box Office:

1. Fantastic Four: First Steps – $40 million
2. The Bad Guys 2 – $22.2 million
3. The Naked Gun – $17 million
4. Superman – $13.9 million
5. Jurassic World Rebirth – $8.7 million
6. Together – $6.8 million
7. F1 – $4.1 million
8. I Know What You Did Last Summer – $2.6 million
9. Smurfs – 1$1.7 million
10. How to Train Your Dragon – $1.3 million

I’m very excited about Weapons releasing August 8, 2025. I hope it does well.

What did you think of Fantastic Four: First Steps? Did you watch The Naked Gun and The Bad Guys 2?

Let us know.

–

(via Box Office Mojo)

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

Twitter

Help support independent journalism. Subscribe to our Patreon.

Copyright © The Geekiary