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WhenThe Fantastic Four: First Stepshit theaters on Jun 01, 2025, Marvel Studios aimed high and largely delivered with its opening weekend box office haul.
The film opened with$117.6 milliondomestically, marking Marvel’slargest opening of the year, and brought in about$100 millioninternationally during its first weekend. That gave it aworldwide debut of approximately $218 million, well within projections of$190-210 millionbut firmly above expectations.
A Promising Start For Marvel’s Third 2025 Theatrical Release
Its rollout began withThursday evening previewspulling in$24.4 million, the highest preview gross of 2025 so far, edging past the $22 million earned bySuperman. That figure immediately signaled that anticipation among Marvel audiences was high for the beginning ofPhase 6, especially for the MCU’s long-awaited take on Marvel’s “First Family.”
The film’sopening day totalreached$57 million, the second-highest of the year, behind onlyA Minecraft Movie. These strong first-day numbers, bolstered by the year’s best preview haul, placed the film well within Marvel Studios’ historical top-tier launches and set it up for a domestic debut of$117.6 million. That total made it the biggest opening weekend of 2025 for a Marvel release and one of the year’s top five debuts across all studios.
While this impressive start positionedFirst Stepsas a box office front-runner, industry watchers also noted subtle signs that the film might be front-loaded. Compared to DC’s franchise-launchingSuperman, which maintained stronger momentum through its first full weekend,Fantastic Foursaw slightly sharper day-to-day declines after its preview night, a factor some analysts flagged early on as a possible indicator of a larger second-weekend drop.
Fantastic Four’s Big Second & Third Weekend Drops
In weekend two,First Stepsmaintained theNo. 1 spotbutsuffered a66% dropfrom its debut, bringing in$40 milliondomestically. This fall is among the steepest for a Marvel Cinematic Universe title in recent years, only slightly better thanCaptain America: Brave New World’s 68% second-week drop earlier this year.
The post-EndgameMCU theatrical releases have demonstrated the most significant drop-offs after opening weekend. The steepest declines of the 37 Marvel Cinematic Universe movies are listed below (click on each title to read more on each film’s box office trends):
79%
Ant‑Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
69%
68%
Thor: Love and Thunder
67%
66%
Phase 6
In addition to these being Covid-19 era releases and post-Endgame, there are other exceptions, includingSpider-Man: No Way Home,which had a similar drop-off on such amassive openingand cleared almost $2 billion worldwide after its theatrical run, andBlack Widow,which was tested as a Disney+ premium release.
The Fantastic Fourrebootgrossed $11.7 million on its second Friday, marking adevastating 80% dropcompared to its opening day. This sharp decline put the movie on track tofall short of its initial weekend-two estimatesof $45-52 million, ultimately landing closer to $40 million by Sunday.
UPDATE: 2025-08-01 23:21 EST BY ROB KEYES
The Fantastic Four: First Steps continues box office slide…
Half-way through weekend 3,First Stepsis projecting $15 million at the domestic box office after a $5 million Friday, representing a potential second weekend to third weekend drop of 61% as it comes in third toWeaponsandFreakier Friday.
The Fantast Four: First Steps Overall Totals Update
By the end of itssecond weekend (July 05, 2025),The Fantastic Four: First Stepshad earned:
Going into itsthird weekend,First Stepsis tracking around$18-20 millionas it goes up against new releasesFreakier Friday(also from Disney) andWeapons.
Fantastic Four’s Critical and Audience Response
The film, which is meant to kickstart Phase 6 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, maintains a solid reception with an86% critics' scoreon Rotten Tomatoes,65/100on Metacritic, and anA⁻ CinemaScore.
Critics and audiences have praised its retro-futuristic 1960s aesthetic and the chemistry of its cast, though pacing and underdeveloped subplots have been listed as drawbacks. Noted for serving as a fresh start of sorts for moviegoers unable to keep up with MCU “homework,” the larger connected universe and the concept of phases have never been more confusing.
Expert Analysis: What’s Behind the Drop?
Is The Fantastic Four: First Steps an Example of Superhero Fatigue?
Industry analysts point to a mix of brand perception, audience demographics, and franchise fatigue as factors inThe Fantastic Four: First Steps’ second‑weekend performance.
Scott Mendelson, box office columnist atPuck Newsand expert onThe Outside Scoop, believes the Marvel Cinematic Universe is increasingly playing to its established fan base rather than attracting a broad audience. He compares it to the laterHunger GamesandTwilightsequels, which made huge money without necessarily being “event movies” for the general public. As he explains:
“The Marvel Cinematic Universe is becoming a ‘for fans only’ affair… for ‘regular moviegoers,’ the event movies of the moment areSuperman,Jurassic World Rebirth, andF1.”
Mendelson also pointed out to me the franchise’s baggage. He notes thatFantastic Fourhas always been “middle of the road” as a property, and that this new MCU version “has been mostly selling itself as ‘Oh, it’s another Fantastic Four movie!’” rather than a fresh must‑see event.
Brandon KatzofGreenlight AnalyticsandObservertells me that audience composition data reinforces this idea.Superman’s audience skewed older, resonating more with men over 35, whileFantastic Fourover‑indexed with men under 35, a narrower demographic slice. According to Katz, this meant the film “struggled to attract ticket buyers outside of committed Marvel fans,” which contributed to the steep second‑weekend drop.
Katz also observes that even strong reviews can’t fully overcome audience fatigue:
“General audiences are saying that more of the same, even when well-made and well-received, is not necessarily enough to get folks in theaters.”
He adds that while the Fantastic Four joining the MCU created an opening weekend boost, the film’s nature as a loose remake ofRise of the Silver Surferundercut its novelty. In contrast,Supermanwas marketed as a completely new take, which helped broaden its appeal beyond core fans.
What Fantastic Four: First Steps' Box Office Means for Marvel
The66% second-weekend declinefalls squarely in the middle of Marvel’s Phase 5 range betweenGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’s 48% andThe Marvels’ 78%, and right alongsideCaptain America: Brave New World’s 68%. According to our exclusive data fromDiesel Labs, Marvel’s second-weekend drops average about63%, compared to53%for non-Marvel action-adventure films.
From Diesel Labs:
“From our perspective the ‘hype’ around the drop is somewhat unwarranted. Based on our analysis it seems that this drop was within the benchmark performance range for Marvel.”
But Mendelson warns that the deeper problem is brand erosion:
“If Marvel’s brand is damaged to the point where they can’t spawn hit films from new-to-cinema properties, then they will be stuck recycling the 2010s MCU franchises.”
Katz believes the answer is to reform, not retreat:
“The MCU needs to require less homework of its viewers, create a more cohesive interlocking narrative with clear building blocks and escalation points for the overarching crossover events, take more creatively ambitious risks to provide audiences with something new, and maintain budget control. The lesson here is not to retreat - it’s to retool.”
With a worldwide total of about$382 millionat the time of publication, almost evenly split between domestic and international,First Stepshas yet to reach the rough break-even point often estimated at2.5-3x its reported$200 million production budget.
While the drop may be typical for Marvel, the real question is whether the studio can re-engage general audiences with fresher ideas and more accessible storytelling or if the formula must rely on top-tier characters, nostalgia, and crossovers. 2026 brings just that withSpider-Man: Brand New DayandAvengers: Doomsday, which are billion-dollar shoo-ins. What comes next, though, may require a calibration in expectations and budgeting.
