Why Fantastic Four Box Office Numbers Dropped 66% This Weekend

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The performance of the Fantastic Four at the box office hasn’t been promising so far, with a steep decline in earnings from its opening weekend to the second one. In its debut, Marvel’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps earned $117 million, but dropped down to $44 million for its second week, representing a substantial 66% decrease. This is more significant than the 53% drop experienced by DC’s Superman 2025 during its second weekend. This trend isn’t encouraging for a film that aspires to revive Marvel and Disney in 2025, following the mediocre showings of Thunderbolts* and Captain America: Brave New World. Numerous reports suggest several factors contributing to the underperformance of Fantastic Four 2025, despite positive feedback from both fans and critics.

Why is The Fantastic Four: First Steps struggling at the box office?

Initially, let’s examine the global box office collections of The Fantastic Four: First Steps up until August 4. Globally, the movie has garnered a total of $368 million, with $198 million from the domestic market and $170 million from international screens. This is a substantial figure, but for its second weekend (from August 1 to 3), it managed to collect only $44 million domestically.

Compared to their second weekends, Captain America: Brave New World decreased by 68%, whereas Thunderbolts dropped by 56%. This is consistent with the decline seen in most Marvel films this year, but Fantastic Four bucked the trend with a 66% drop despite receiving high praise from both critics and audiences. With an impressive 87% Tomatometer and 92% Popcornmeter from Rotten Tomatoes, it’s a long-awaited reboot of a beloved team of superheroes in the MCU, linked to Avengers: Doomsday, and featuring a stellar cast led by Pedro Pascal. So, why is this happening? Is it a case of superhero saturation or something else?

As a passionate fan, I’ve come to realize that the issue might be rooted within the Fantastic Four themselves. Jeff Bock, an analyst from Exhibitor Relations, expressed this on X (previously Twitter), saying, “The Fantastic Four isn’t a top-tier Marvel franchise. It’s never been… This all builds up to The Avengers. That’s where the real payoff lies.” Similarly, Erik Kain from Forbes concurs, noting that the Fantastic Four characters aren’t widely popular and that no previous Fantastic Four movie has been exceptionally good. In a 2022 survey conducted by Talker, polling 2,000 people, none of the Fantastic Four characters cracked the Top 10 for America’s favorite superheroes.

One additional aspect to consider is the intense competition among films that premiered in cinemas this past weekend. The debuts of “The Bad Guys 2” and the reboot of “The Naked Gun” significantly impacted box office sales, with the former earning $22.2 million and the latter grossing $17 million. On the other hand, “Superman 2025,” which had a head start due to the absence of competing superhero films for a few weeks following its release, managed to collect $13.9 million. Collectively, these three movies outperformed the earnings of “Fantastic Four” over the weekend, potentially slowing down its initial success.

Furthermore, it’s common nowadays for superhero movies to appear on streaming platforms like HBO Max (for DC films) and Disney+ (for Marvel movies). Many viewers with subscriptions are choosing to wait for The Fantastic Four: First Steps to be added to the catalog rather than going to the cinema. The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified this trend, as more and more consumers are adopting this behavior.

In today’s financial climate, where many people are struggling to make ends meet due to rising costs, splurging on movie tickets, popcorn, and drinks is increasingly considered a luxury rather than a necessity. A recent CBS poll from May 2025 revealed that a staggering 65% of Americans feel financially stressed, and an even higher percentage (76%) claim their income isn’t enough to keep pace with inflation. This financial strain may influence the choices of moviegoers when deciding which superhero film to watch, potentially giving Superman an edge due to its earlier release date and larger brand recognition compared to Fantastic Four.

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2025-08-04 19:46