Disney/Marvel Studios’ “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” will keep the summer box office running hot this weekend after earning $24.4 million from Thursday preview screenings.
That result tops the $22.5 million preview total that Warner Bros./DC Studios’ “Superman” earned two weeks ago and becomes the best preview total both in 2025 so far and since the $38.5 million of Marvel’s “Deadpool & Wolverine” a year ago.
This weekend, “Fantastic Four” is expected to earn an opening weekend similar to the $125 million start of “Superman.” Like that film, it is enjoying strong word-of-mouth with Rotten Tomatoes scores of 88% critics and 92% audience. It will come down to turnout of lapsed Marvel moviegoers to decide which July superhero film has the bigger domestic launch.
Globally, “Fantastic Four” is projected for a slightly higher overseas start than “Superman” with a worldwide start of $220-230 million. While there will be plenty of August movies catering to specific audiences from “The Naked Gun” and “The Bad Guys 2” to “Freakier Friday” and “Weapons,” “Fantastic Four” will be the freshest four-quadrant film and will have room to try to win over audiences who haven’t gotten sick of superhero films but don’t want to be confused by storylines and characters from past films and streaming shows.
