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\n Disney\u2019s \u201cThe Fantastic Four: First Steps\u201d stormed the domestic box office, topping superhero competitor \u201cSuperman\u201d to finish No. 1 with $118 million.\n <\/p>\n
\n The reboot was a major comeback for the series, falling within range of analysts\u2019 expectations but short of a hopeful $130 million. \u201cFantastic Four\u201d is also the best-performing weekend for a Marvel film this year, easily surpassing \u201cCaptain America: Brave New World\u201d in February ($88.5 million) and \u201cThunderbolts\u201d in May ($74.3 million).\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cThis new phase for Marvel is truly important for the brand,\u201d said Paul Dergarabedian, senior analyst at Comscore, adding that it \u201cdoubles down on the \u2018Thunderbolts\u2019 success and is showing that audiences love going to superhero movies in the movie theater.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n Shawn Robbins, director of analytics at Fandango and founder and owner of Box Office Theory, called \u201cFantastic Four\u201d a \u201czero-homework-required\u201d release, because it stands separate from the Marvel Cinematic Universe\u2019s established storylines.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cThat\u2019s exactly where their franchise needs to be right now, as they not only try to keep those die-hard fans but bring back some of the more casual watchers,\u201d said Robbins.\n <\/p>\n
\n While some industry experts have said moviegoers may be experiencing \u201csuperhero fatigue,\u201d Daniel Loria, editorial director at BoxOffice Pro, said Marvel may be slowed by <\/strong>\u201cfranchise fatigue.\u201d Marvel Studios has released 37 movies since \u201cIron Man\u201d in 2008, <\/strong>with four \u201cAvengers\u201d movies between 2012 and 2019 having combined to gross about <\/strong>$10 billion when adjusted for inflation.\n <\/p>\n\n Perhaps adding to the Marvel fatigue was Disney releasing Marvel Cinematic Universe television series on its streaming service, which complicated the franchise, Dergarabedian said. It hasn\u2019t helped matters that since the pandemic, Marvel movies have failed to get off to a hot start, with 2024\u2019s \u201cDeadpool & Wolverine\u201d ($211 million) and 2021\u2019s \u201cSpider-Man: No Way Home\u201d ($260 million) being exceptions.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cSo much of (the franchise) is readily available at home,\u201d Loria said. \u201cI don\u2019t think \u2018Fantastic Four\u2019 plays into any of that. It\u2019s a fresh, new experience, and I think audiences are responding to that.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cThe Fantastic Four: First Steps\u201d should help lift the franchise after the box office disappointment of 20th Century Fox\u2019s 2015 \u201cFantastic Four,\u201d which grossed just $76.3 million domestically during its entire run, adjusted for inflation.\n <\/p>\n
\n Finishing No. 2 at the domestic weekend box office was Warner Bros. Pictures\u2019 \u201cSuperman,\u201d which grossed nearly $25 million. \u201cSuperman,\u201d part of the revamped DC movie universe, has so far grossed $289.5 million since opening on July 11. Dergarabedian said that the success of this month\u2019s two superhero films shows that \u201cif that genre or category of film were to disappear, it\u2019d be devastating for the industry.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n Warner Bros. Discovery is the parent company of CNN.\n <\/p>\n
\n Universal Pictures\u2019 \u201cJurassic World Rebirth\u201d came in third at the domestic box office, having grossed $13 million in its fourth week in theaters. It\u2019s grossed $301.51 million domestically so far.\n <\/p>\n
\n Robbins <\/strong>noted that <\/strong>there haven\u2019t been major examples of a DC and Marvel movie playing in theaters at the same time. He added that casual comic book fans who may normally pick one movie to see could make an exception to see both films in theaters.\n <\/p>\n\n Loria cited a diverse slate of movies for continued moviegoing momentum. Aside from \u201cSuperman\u201d and \u201cThe Fantastic Four: First Steps,\u201d Paramount Pictures\u2019 comedy \u201cThe Naked Gun,\u201d which opens Friday, will open to offer \u201ca fresh, new genre.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n This month\u2019s movie slate has lifted the box office 12.3% year-to-date compared to the same time last year, according to Comscore data.\n <\/p>\n
\n And the box office could still reach $4 billion this summer, Dergarabedian said, which would mark the second post-pandemic summer box office to reach that level.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201c\u2018The Fantastic Four: First Steps\u2019 is going to fuel a very strong month of August. So what a great home stretch for the industry,\u201d he said.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Facebook Tweet Email Link Disney\u2019s \u201cThe Fantastic Four: First Steps\u201d stormed the domestic box office, topping superhero competitor…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":97561,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[159,783,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-97560","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-space","8":"tag-science","9":"tag-space","10":"tag-united-states","11":"tag-unitedstates","12":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114927029677737593","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97560"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97560\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/97561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}