The Fantastic Four: First Steps is about to enter its second weekend in theaters, and following an estimated $7.4 million Thursday, the movie is likely to end the weekend with an additional $45 million - $47 million. That's a 61% decline.
It's neither a great result nor a particularly bad one. There's still no word on international numbers, but overseas could be where The Fantastic Four: First Steps makes most of its money. The opposite is true for Superman, as that has grossed $300 million in North America alone.
Taking a bite out of the latest Marvel Studios reboot are The Bad Guys 2 and The Naked Gun. The former made $2.25 million from Thursday previews, while the R-Rated comedy reached $1.6 million.
As of a few days ago, The Fantastic Four: First Steps had grossed roughly $250 million worldwide, so bet on it easily surpassing $300 million by the end of the weekend (possibly $400 million, depending on how well this week has gone). The reboot should end its run somewhere between $500 million - $600 million.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps is down 11% from Superman at the same point in its run ($158.3 million versus $177.8 million), but it's also 40% above Captain America: Brave New World.
Marvel Studios, meanwhile, has released another TV spot for the movie, finally revealing official footage of Galactus in all his enormous glory. Outside of promo art, this serves as our first proper look at the Devourer of Worlds...not including what we saw on the big screen.
Much of this 30-second promo is devoted to The Fantastic Four: First Steps' final scene, so you'd best turn away now if you're planning to watch the movie for the first time this coming weekend.
Let us know your thoughts on the latest MCU movie in the comments section.
Set against the vibrant backdrop of a 1960s-inspired, retro-futuristic world, Marvel Studios' The Fantastic Four: First Steps introduces Marvel’s First Family—Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic (Pedro Pascal), Sue Storm/Invisible Woman (Vanessa Kirby), Johnny Storm/Human Torch (Joseph Quinn) and Ben Grimm/The Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) as they face their most daunting challenge yet.
Forced to balance their roles as heroes with the strength of their family bond, they must defend Earth from a ravenous space god called Galactus (Ralph Ineson) and his enigmatic Herald, Silver Surfer (Julia Garner). And if Galactus’ plan to devour the entire planet and everyone on it weren’t bad enough, it suddenly gets very personal.
Also appearing are Natasha Lyonne as Rachel Rozman, Paul Walter Hauser as Harvey Elder/Mole Man, Sarah Niles as Lynne Nichols, and Mark Gatiss as Ted Gilbert. John Malkovich was set to play Red Ghost, but was cut due to time constraints.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps is directed by Matt Shakman from a screenplay by Josh Friedman and Eric Pearson and Jeff Kaplan & Ian Springer.
In our review of The Fantastic Four: First Steps, we concluded, "The Fantastic Four is an exceptional introduction to the MCU’s First Family, and thanks to a Jack Kirby-infused feel that’s unlike anything we’ve seen before, it proves to be a quintessential superhero movie with Marvel Studios at its brilliant best.
The movie is now playing in theaters.