Summary
- The Fantastic Four: First Steps and Superman are headed for a tight opening weekend race.
- The new Fantastic Four film is set to surpass Marvel's past box office performances this year.
- Past iterations of The Fantastic Four franchise have seen varying levels of success at the box office.
Although there surely is room for both The Fantastic Four: First Steps and Superman to succeed at the box office, that won't stop Marvel and DC diehards from duking it out online. Unsurprisingly, the first major talking point will be which film has the bigger opening weekend.
With Marvel and DC struggling with audiences in recent years, The Fantastic Four: First Steps and Superman are something of a return to form for both comic book titans. Superman is kicking off a brand-new multimedia franchise called the DC Universe for Warner Bros. While The Fantastic Four: First Steps is the first entry in Marvel Studios' Phase Six collection of MCU films and television shows. If you want to nitpick, the DC Universe technically began with last year's Creature Commandos and the MCU has had two feature films this year—Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts*— that found middling responses at the box office. That being said, both Superman and First Steps reviewed generally well with critics and early tracking shows that the new Fantastic Four film is performing well at the box office as Superman has done thus far.
'One Of The Best Things Marvel Has Ever Made' Early Reactions To The Fantastic Four: First Steps Are Here
If first impressions mean anything to you, The Fantastic Four: First Steps is off to a great start for Marvel.
So who will come out on top? At the moment, it looks like The Fantastic Four: First Steps could narrowly claim the crown, but it's far from over. Variety is reporting that First Steps has brought in around $57 million combined from preview screenings and Friday's showings. That would be just behind A Minecraft Movie's biggest opening day of the calendar year and just ahead of Superman's $56.1 million. First Steps will have to keep filling seats all weekend long if it wants to top Superman's three-day opening weekend gross of around $125 million. Which film ends up with the better opening weekend is pretty much a coin toss at this point.
It Is A Tight Race Between Superman And The Fantastic Four: First Steps For Opening Weekend Dominance
A Minecraft Movie Is The True Winner Either Way
No matter how you slice it, The Fantastic Four: First Steps will undoubtedly end up having the best opening weekend of any Marvel Studios film this year. Captain America: Brave New World grossed around $88 million during its opening weekend and Thunderbolts* performed even worse, bringing in around $74 million. Both of those films ended up being theatrical money-losers for Marvel and Disney, although they surely will have broken even by the time home video sales and merchandising are taken into account.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps is the fourth time that Marvel's First Family has made it to the big screen. 2005's Fantastic Four brought in $333 million worldwide, while its 2007 sequel Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer grossed $301 million around the globe. That prompted Fox to revamp the series with 2015's Fantastic Four, which tanked and managed to bring in just $167 million worldwide, with a paltry $56 million domestically. Yes, for those keeping track at home, The Fantastic Four: First Steps outgrossed 2015's Fantastic Four in the United States and Canada in one measly day. Not too shabby.
- Release Date
- July 25, 2025
- Runtime
- 115 minutes
- Director
- Matt Shakman
Cast
-
Pedro PascalReed Richards / Mister Fantastic -
Vanessa KirbySue Storm / Invisible Woman
WHERE TO WATCH
- Writers
- Jeff Kaplan, Josh Friedman, Ian Springer, Eric Pearson, Kat Wood, Jack Kirby, Stan Lee
- Producers
- Kevin Feige
- Franchise(s)
- Marvel Cinematic Universe
Source: Variety