Box Office Struggles for Marvel’s ‘Fantastic Four’ Amid Strong Competition

LOS ANGELES, CA — Marvel‘s latest film, ‘The Fantastic Four,’ is having a tough second weekend at the box office. After debuting with $117.6 million, the film dropped 66% in ticket sales, bringing in $40 million from 4,125 theaters over the weekend. Analysts had predicted a decline of 55% to 60% due to positive reviews and word-of-mouth.

Despite the steep drop, ‘The Fantastic Four’ still secured the number one spot in North America. However, its decline is among the largest for films in Disney‘s Marvel Cinematic Universe, especially when compared to ‘The Marvels,’ which fell 78%.

Currently, ‘Fantastic Four’ has earned $198 million domestically and $368 million globally. While it outpaces earlier 2023 disappointments like ‘Captain America: Brave New World‘ and ‘Thunderbolts,’ it still does not signal a return to box office domination for Marvel.

Industry analyst David A. Gross commented on the franchise’s status, stating, ‘Fantastic Four is not a top-tier Marvel franchise. Remember, this ramps up into ‘Avengers.’ That’s the real payoff.’

This weekend also saw the release of several other films. Universal’s animated sequel, ‘The Bad Guys 2,’ opened with $22.8 million, matching the performance of its predecessor two years ago. The film received an ‘A’ grade on CinemaScore.

Meanwhile, Paramount’s comedy ‘The Naked Gun‘ debuted to $17 million, well-received by audiences, particularly older men. The film scored an ‘A-‘ on CinemaScore and holds a 90% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

In sixth place, Neon’s horror film ‘Together’ generated $6.8 million over the weekend. While audiences gave it a ‘C+’ on CinemaScore, analysts expect it will still turn a profit due to its inventive marketing strategy.

In other box office news, ‘Superman‘ earned $13.9 million in its fourth weekend, while ‘Jurassic World Rebirth‘ rounded out the top five with $8.4 million. Overall, box office revenues this summer are slightly ahead of last year but still behind 2019.

Senior Comscore analyst Paul Dergarabedian remains optimistic, forecasting the possibility of the box office reaching the $4 billion milestone this season.