Los Angeles (AP) At last, Marvel’s first family has achieved success at the box office. According to studio estimates on Sunday, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, the first superhero movie produced under Kevin Feige and the Walt Disney Co., garnered $118 million in its first weekend in 4,125 North American cinemas.
This makes it the biggest Marvel opening since Deadpool & Wolverine made $211 million at the box office last summer, and the fourth biggest opening of the year, behind Superman, Lilo & Stitch, and A Minecraft Movie. Fantastic Four’s global premiere totaled $218 million, including $100 million earned from 52 nations. The figures fell within the range that the studio had anticipated.
The movie came after James Gunn’s Superman, another major superhero revamp that debuted three weekends ago and has already made over $500 million worldwide. With $24.9 million domestically, the movie from DC Studios, the other major comic book film studio, came in second.
Superman and First Steps’ box office success suggests that the much-discussed idea of superhero fatigue can finally be put to bed. Paul Dergarabedian, a senior media analyst at data company Comscore, said, “I always say it’s bad movie fatigue, not superhero fatigue.”
Following poor reception for previous iterations, First Steps is the most recent attempt to bring the superhuman family to the big screen. Based on the classic Marvel comics, the movie takes place in a retro-futuristic universe in the 1960s and is dominated by the Fantastic Four, a family of astronauts who were exposed to cosmic rays while on a space trip and became superhuman.
The family includes Johnny Storm (Joseph Quinn), who changes into a fiery human torch; Ben Grimm (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), who has amazing superhuman strength with his stone-like flesh; Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby), who can make herself invisible; and Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal), who can stretch his body to amazing lengths.
The film is set four years after the family’s power was acquired, during which time Sue’s diplomacy brought about world peace while Reed’s discoveries revolutionized technology.
With a current 88% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and encouraging exit poll results from first-week ticket buyers, the movie received excellent reviews from both critics and audiences. It is anticipated that 46% of viewers opted to view it on high-end screens, such as IMAX and other large formats.
The once-dominant Marvel is attempting to regain the passion of its viewers for its movies and characters. Neither of its two prior releases this year achieved the intergalactic box office peaks of the Avengers era or Deadpool & Wolverine, which brought in over $1.3 billion. However, since the poorly received Captain America: Brave New World, which ended up making $415 million worldwide, the films have started receiving more positive reviews. Despite receiving higher reviews from critics, Thunderbolts, which launched the summer film season, only made little more than $382 million worldwide.
The Fantastic Four have long been owned by 20th Century Fox, just like Deadpool and Wolverine. In the mid-2000s, the studio made two tries with future Captain America Chris Evans as the Human Torch, both of which were criticized by critics but made a respectable profit. It made another fruitless attempt in 2015 starring Miles Teller and Michael B. Jordan. Following Disney’s $71 billion purchase of Fox’s entertainment holdings in 2019, they were given another opportunity.
According to Dergarabedian, the Fantastic Four’s first weekend performance fell short of certain competitor studio expectations. However, it is anticipated that the movie will continue to generate revenue for theaters well into August.
One additional newcomer made the chart, but holdovers dominated the top 10. With 866 showings, the dark romantic comedy Oh, Hi! made $1.1 million.
In its fourth weekend, Jurassic World Rebirth came in third with $13 million, followed by Formula One with $6.2 million. Additionally, Brad Pitt’s racing film made over $500 million worldwide. In its second weekend, Smurfs brought $5.4 million to complete the top five.
Compared to last year, the box office is currently up more than 12%.
According to Comscore, this list accounts for the anticipated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at cinemas in the United States and Canada, with final domestic data being revealed on Monday:
1. First Steps: The Fantastic Four, $118 million.
2. $24.9 million for Superman.
3. $13 million for Jurassic World Rebirth.
4. F1: The Film, which costs $6.2 million.
5. $5.4 million for Smurfs.
6. $5.1 million, I Know What You Did Last Summer.
7. The $2.8 million film How to Train Your Dragon.
8. $1.7 million for Eddington.
9. $1.3 million for Saiyaara.
Oh, hello, $1.1 million.
Recent film reviews
-
Nostalgia and gore collide in the new I Know What You Did Last Summer
-
Eddington is a satire about our broken brains that might re-break your brain
-
Smurfs has Rihanna but not much else
-
In Heads of State, a buddy comedy with statesmen
