Disney-Marvel is seeing the numbers come in for Fantastic 4: First Steps, and while it beat original projections by a small amount, the news still isn't good. What makes this worse is that the actors are probably not helping people want to see it either.
As reported by The Numbers, the film grossed $128 million domestically and $100 million internationally, which does exceed projections.
The Numbers also noted that this makes for the best debut of an origin story since Endgame:
While it’s falling short of what looked possible on Friday, The Fantastic Four: First Steps will land with an impressive $118 million this weekend, according to Disney’s Sunday-morning projection. That’s easily the best debut for an origin story in the Marvel Cinematic Universe since Avengers: Endgame, and a signal that the “fewer is better” approach for the studio is working so far.
[...]
Fantastic Four’s weekend was largely shaped by a big turnout from the usual Marvel audience, which showed up in force on Thursday and Friday, giving the film a $57-million first “day”—slightly ahead of Superman’s $56.1 million a couple of weeks ago.
The issue is that the film might have had a strong liftoff, but its momentum didn't hold. Monday numbers show a steep drop-off, only bringing in $10.4 million domestically, which isn't a good sign.
As That Park Place notes, this drop-off falls behind other underperforming films, including the notorious bomb that was Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which hit $14.28 million on its first Monday, as well as Captain America: Brave New World, which brought in $11 million in that same time frame.
This means that the movie's front-heavy box office numbers were likely Marvel diehards, Fantastic 4 fans, and reviewers who watch movies so you don't have to, including yours truly.
Read: Fantastic Four Review: Did Marvel Actually Deliver Something Worth Watching?
It likely helped that the film wasn't bad, though it was flawed in many regards, and we still saw some of Disney's bad habits on display. The word-of-mouth (i.e., YouTube reviewers) that described the film as decent but not astounding likely helped people decide to see it. Now that Monday's rolled around, and the steep drop is here, Disney-Marvel execs are reading troubling tea leaves.
The film did open right next to James Gunn's Superman film, which likely didn't help either, as it forced audiences to choose one superhero movie or the other.
The other issue is that perhaps the Superhero genre isn't so much "fatigued" as it implies a rest might make it exciting again, but rather the novelty of it has worn off entirely. It is just another genre of film now, and you can take it or leave it. It's not the "must-see" thing you talk about around the water cooler like it used to be, and this is something that Disney — and indeed any studio — may have to stop to think about.
But what's also not helping the film see a second week resurgence is likely the actors. People absolutely do have Pedro Pascal fatigue as he's pretty much on every working screen you come across, and it doesn't help that he's increasingly unlikable, especially as he touches and fondles women to curb his "anxiety."
But then you also have moments like this from Ebon Moss-Bachrach, who says things like "There's a handful of fascists I would throw into outer space," which received positive reactions from his co-stars.
— Culture Crave 🍿 (@CultureCrave) July 29, 2025
On face value, it's not a bad wish, but when you've been calling Trump supporters and the Trump administration themselves "fascists" for years, it's not hard to know they're talking about anyone that they disagree with politically.
I don't think I need to remind you that violence against others for simply disagreeing with them politically is a large element of fascism.
These kinds of PR mistakes are what oftentimes cost a film a lot of dough, and if the cast is acting like this, then I can't see the film getting another big bump.
Editor's Note: The mainstream media continues to deflect, gaslight, spin, and lie.
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