First Steps’ Continues Big Box Office Dive With 61% Drop
Pedro Pascal in “The Fantastic Four First Steps.”
Disney/Marvel Studios
Disney and Marvel Studios’ The Fantastic Four: First Steps — which had a steep drop in business in its second Friday to Sunday frame — is continuing its big box office dive in its third weekend in theaters.
The third and Marvel Cinematic Universe release in 2025 after Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts*, The Fantastic Four: First Steps found solid footing in its opening weekend in theaters July 25-27 with a domestic take of $115.6 million.
The film’s second weekend, Aug. 1-3 proved disastrous, however, as the film’s $38.6 million domestic tally marked a 67% drop in business. Any hope for a turnaround in the film’s third Friday to Sunday for The Fantastic Four quickly dissipated this weekend, though, as Deadline released its projections for the Aug. 8-10 North American box office.
As of Saturday, the trade publication projected that The Fantastic Four: First Steps will earn $15 million from 3,600 North American theaters, marking a 61% drop from last weekend’s already ailing numbers.
Should the $15 million projection by Deadline hold, it will boost The Fantastic Four: First Steps’ domestic tally to $229.9 million. The Fantastic Four: First Steps, per Variety, had a production budget of $200 million-plus before prints and advertisting costs.
David Corenswet in “Superman.”
Warner Bros. Pictures
‘Superman’s’ Business Only Drops 41% In Weekend No. 5
The Fantastic Four: First Steps’ main competitor for the top-grossing superhero movie of 2025 — James Gunn’s Superman — is projected to make $7.8 million in its fifth weekend in theaters following its opening on July 11.
The projected tally marks a $43% drop in business from the film’s fourth weekend in theaters. Should Deadline’s projection hold, this weekend’s box office will boost Superman’s domestic take to $331.2 million.
Given Superman’s solid hold at the box office and The Fantastic Four’s downhill slide, DC Studios’ Man of Steel film is poised to handily defeat the latest MCU chapter by the time each film wraps its theatrical run.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps’ drop to third place at the domestic box office comes in the wake of the strong performances of two newcomers — the Warner Bros. horror thriller Weapons and Disney’s Freaky Friday sequel Freakier Friday.
Weapons is projected by Deadline to earn anywhere from $40 million to $43 million in its opening weekend, while the trade publication pegs a $30 million to $32 million first frame for Freakier Friday.
The final numbers for this weekend’s box office will be released on Monday.