Box Office – Fantastic Four: First Steps Takes Off With One Of The Best MCU Debuts In Recent Years

The Marvel Cinematic Universe’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps has already taken its first steps towards box office success. The latest Marvel movie, First Steps, reintroduces Marvel’s first family and comes just two weeks after the DC Universe shocked the box office with Superman‘s impressive debut. Marvel hopes to match DC’s success after a slow post-pandemic trajectory.

The box office has been dominated recently by summer blockbusters after a relatively slow start to the year. James Gunn’s Superman, Ari Aster’s Eddington, and the ever-present dinosaur epic Jurassic World Rebirth have been ruling the summer. A few other scattered projects have also been released, including the horror-driven I Know What You Did Last Summer.

According to a report by Deadline, First Steps is expected to dominate the weekend with a strong start, though it is falling under expectations with $118 million in its first weekend. That projection puts it behind James Gunn’s Superman‘s opening weekend, as the other superhero epic enjoyed a $125 million debut.

With Superman dealing with a -58% drop in its third weekend, nothing else earned over $25 million, meaning that this weekend was as close as it comes to a Marvel sweep. Check out the chart below, which showcases this weekend’s Top 5:

The only major change in the charts this weekend was The Fantastic Four: First Step‘s debut, which forced I Know What You Did Last Summer out of the top 5 in its second weekend. With just $5.1 million projected after a -60% drop, it simply could not match the more family-friendly releases.

Pixar’s Elio, which earned a place as the No. 8 movie last week, has completely fallen off the charts. How to Train Your Dragon fell to No. 7, thanks to a $2.8 million weekend, and Eddington‘s -62% drop saw it fall to No. 8. It is projected to be a fairly quiet weekend, outside the MCU’s notable hit.

What This Means For The Box Office

Fantastic Four Is A Cut Above

Nothing was ever expected to truly compete for the top spot this weekend, given Fantastic Four‘s strong projections. Superman earned $86.8 million last week, which is impressive given its $125 million debut, but it also faced limited competition. This should be a great week for the MCU, which will undoubtedly hope to see this success continue into the sophomore weekend.

This release came at the perfect time for the studio, which needed to improve its reputation. After years of decline from Marvel, First Steps is a much-needed relief. Its opening weekend is projected to outperform Thunderbolts* ($74 million) and Captain America: Brave New World ($89 million), but it will match James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 ($118 million).

Among Marvel’s post-COVID releases, it sits behind only Deadpool & Wolverine ($211 million), Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (181 million), Thor: Love and Thunder ($144 million), Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (187 million), and Spider-Man: No Way Home ($260 million). First Steps is the only non-sequel among those releases, which is a notable accomplishment for the studio.

Other new releases were unable to muster enough attention to fight back. After all, Fantastic Four earned more than everything else combined. This weekend saw an overall total of around $200 million, of which the superhero movies combined for around $150 million. Despite accusations of superhero fatigue, this weekend indicates that the genre remains prominent, even if it is under-performing.

Unfortunately, the rest of the box office is not doing especially well. With Smurfs‘ $58 million budget, it will need to lean on its overseas performance to make up for its $22.7 million domestic total. The $25 million Eddington is facing similar challenges, given its $8.1 million overall total. The box office remains tumultuous, leading to some disappointing results.

Our Take On The Weekend Box Office

The MCU Needed A Win

After years of ridicule coming on the tail end of Fantastic Four‘s (2015) disappointing debut, this is the first taste of success for Marvel’s First Family in years. It came at the perfect time, as the MCU needed to refocus on theatrical releases and quality over quantity in the wake of several consecutive disappointing box office performances.

The quality is certainly there, as ScreenRant‘s Molly Freeman reviewed First Steps and found that it lacks the “Marvel magic” but is “a fun-filled good time“. The movie also managed to earn an A- CinemaScore, putting it right on par with Superman. After months of speculation about where each release would fall at the box office, they remain head-to-head.

As for the rest of the box office, this continues 2025’s trend of mid-level disappointments. The blockbusters continue to find success fairly consistently, as they have all summer, but non-event movies are struggling to find traction. The rise of streaming platforms is partly to blame, as viewers have simply been waiting for these movies to leave streaming.

Even First Steps is somewhat struggling, given that some outlets projected a $135 million outing. The results appear to have been front-loaded with a poor internal multiplier from opening day. After Friday ushered in $57 million, Saturday brought just $33.2 million, and Sunday should see $27.8 million. It’s a worrying sign for the coming weeks.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps is currently ruling the box office, but the coming weeks will determine where the actual winner of this bout will fall. MCU movies tend to be front-heavy, but if it can beat Superman‘s -51% week 2 drop, the sky is the limit, as unlikely as it is. Everything will depend on its sophomore weekend.

Enjoy ScreenRant’s box office coverage? Click below to sign up for Brennan Klein’s weekly box office newsletter (make sure to check “Box Office” in your preferences) and get exclusive analysis, predictions, and more:

Sign Up

Source: Deadline

The Fantastic Four: First Steps

7/10

Release Date

July 25, 2025

Runtime

115 minutes

Director

Matt Shakman

Writers

Jeff Kaplan, Josh Friedman, Ian Springer, Eric Pearson

• 

  Reed Richards / Mr. Fantastic

• 

  Vanessa Kirby

  Sue Storm / The Invisible Woman