Almost like the Marvels: ticket sales for the Fantastic Four movie fell by 70% in the second weekend

“The Fantastic Four delivered one of the biggest box office collapses in Marvel history with a modest $40 million domestic box office on its second weekend.

According to Variety, after a solid domestic debut of $117.6 million, the movie about the “first Marvel family” added only $40 million in its second weekend — a 66% drop, even more than analysts’ expectations. Such figures are a bit surprising given the positive reactions from both specialized publications and ordinary viewers, who dubbed Fantastic Four one of the studio’s best projects.

In fact, it’s now one of the biggest drops in Marvel’s history, second only to except for the failed Marvels (-78% on the second weekend) and is on par with Captain America: Brave New World (-68%), Ant-Man 3 (-70%) and Thor: Love and Thunder” (-67%). Competitive “DC’s Supermanby comparison, lost 53% after starting with $125 million in domestic box office receipts

To summarize, so far Fantastic Four: The First Steps has grossed $198 million domestically and $368 million worldwide. There is no reliable information about the film’s budget: initially it was reported to be $200 million, but later Variety hinted at a “much higher amount.” Actually, we may never know, but there is less and less doubt that the movie will make at least $500 million at the box office. Even so, it would be Marvel’s highest result in 2025, as the previous releases, Captain America with Anthony Mackie and The Thunderbolts, finished with $415 million and $382 million respectively — too far from the studio’s once billion-dollar earnings.

Next year, the situation may be improved new “Avengers” and “Spider-Man 4”although there are already reports that Marvel plans to “limit costs” in future projects. For example, for the new X-Men, the studio will be looking for young and unknown actors, the company will not require $80 million in fees, as it did for Robert Downey Jr.

The Fantastic Four franchise used to be owned by 20th Century Fox-Marvel, but after the merger of Disney and Fox, Marvel took full ownership of the franchise. “First Steps, directed by Matt Shackman, presents a renewed Fantastic Four quartet consisting of Pedro Pascal (Mr. Fantastic), Vanessa Kirby (The Invisible Woman), Joseph Quinn (The Human Torch), and Ebon Moss-Bacrak (The Creature), who must defend the Earth from a ravenous space god named Galactus (Ralph Fiennes) and his mysterious Herald (Julia Garner’s Silver Surfer).