When The Fantastic Four: First Steps hit theaters on July 25, 2025, Marvel Studios aimed high and largely delivered with its opening weekend box office haul.

The film opened with $117.6 million domestically, marking Marvel’s largest opening of the year, and brought in about $100 million internationally during its first weekend. That gave it a worldwide debut of approximately $218 million, well within projections of $190-210 million but firmly above expectations.

A Promising Start For Marvel’s Third 2025 Theatrical Release

Its rollout began with Thursday evening previews pulling in $24.4 million, the highest preview gross of 2025 so far, edging past the $22 million earned by Superman. That figure immediately signaled that anticipation among Marvel audiences was high for the beginning of Phase 6, especially for the MCU’s long-awaited take on Marvel’s “First Family.”

The film’s opening day total reached $57 million, the second-highest of the year, behind only A Minecraft Movie. These strong first-day numbers, bolstered by the year’s best preview haul, placed the film well within Marvel Studios’ historical top-tier launches and set it up for a domestic debut of $117.6 million. That total made it the biggest opening weekend of 2025 for a Marvel release and one of the year’s top five debuts across all studios.

While this impressive start positioned First Steps as a box office front-runner, industry watchers also noted subtle signs that the film might be front-loaded. Compared to DC’s franchise-launching Superman, which maintained stronger momentum through its first full weekend, Fantastic Four saw slightly sharper day-to-day declines after its preview night, a factor some analysts flagged early on as a possible indicator of a larger second-weekend drop.

Fantastic Four’s Big Second Weekend Drop

In weekend two, First Steps maintained the No. 1 spot but suffered a 66% drop from its debut, bringing in $40 million domestically. This fall is among the steepest for a Marvel Cinematic Universe тιтle in recent years, only slightly better than Captain America: Brave New World’s 68% second-week drop earlier this year.

The post-Endgame MCU theatrical releases have demonstrated the most significant drop-offs after opening weekend. The steepest declines of the 37 Marvel Cinematic Universe movies are listed below (click on each тιтle to read more on each film’s box office trends):

In addition to these being Covid-19 era releases and post-Endgame, there are other exceptions, including Spider-Man: No Way Home, which had a similar drop-off on such a mᴀssive opening and cleared almost $2 billion worldwide after its theatrical run, and Black Widow, which was tested as a Disney+ premium release.

The Fantastic Four reboot grossed $11.7 million on its second Friday, marking a devastating 80% drop compared to its opening day. This sharp decline put the movie on track to fall short of its initial weekend-two estimates of $45-52 million, ultimately landing closer to $40 million by Sunday.

At that point, its domestic total stood at $170 million, with projections suggesting it could reach up to $198 million by the end of the weekend. With a production budget of over $200 million, the steep drop added pressure for the film to maintain momentum in the coming weeks.

The Fantast Four: First Steps Overall Totals Update

By the end of its second weekend (August 4, 2025), The Fantastic Four: First Steps had earned:

• $198 million domestically (up from $170 million after its second Friday)
• $170.3 million internationally
• Worldwide total: roughly $368-372 million, depending on the source

Going into its third weekend, First Steps is tracking around $18-20 million as it goes up against new releases Freakier Friday (also from Disney) and Weapons.

Fantastic Four’s Critical and Audience Response

The film, which is meant to kickstart Phase 6 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, maintains a solid reception with an 86% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes, 65/100 on Metacritic, and an A⁻ CinemaScore.

Critics and audiences have praised its retro-futuristic 1960s aesthetic and the chemistry of its cast, though pacing and underdeveloped subplots have been listed as drawbacks. Noted for serving as a fresh start of sorts for moviegoers unable to keep up with MCU “homework,” the larger connected universe and the concept of phases have never been more confusing.

Expert Analysis: What’s Behind the Drop?

Is The Fantastic Four: First Steps an Example of Superhero Fatigue?

Industry analysts point to a mix of brand perception, audience demographics, and franchise fatigue as factors in The Fantastic Four: First Steps’ second‑weekend performance.

Scott Mendelson, box office columnist at Puck News and expert on The Outside Scoop, believes the Marvel Cinematic Universe is increasingly playing to its established fan base rather than attracting a broad audience. He compares it to the later Hunger Games and Twilight sequels, which made huge money without necessarily being “event movies” for the general public. As he explains:

“The Marvel Cinematic Universe is becoming a ‘for fans only’ affair… for ‘regular moviegoers,’ the event movies of the moment are Superman, Jurᴀssic World Rebirth, and F1.”

Mendelson also pointed out to me the franchise’s baggage. He notes that Fantastic Four has always been “middle of the road” as a property, and that this new MCU version “has been mostly selling itself as ‘Oh, it’s another Fantastic Four movie!’” rather than a fresh must‑see event.

Brandon Katz of Greenlight Analytics and Observer tells me that audience composition data reinforces this idea. Superman’s audience skewed older, resonating more with men over 35, while Fantastic Four over‑indexed with men under 35, a narrower demographic slice. According to Katz, this meant the film “struggled to attract ticket buyers outside of committed Marvel fans,” which contributed to the steep second‑weekend drop.

Katz also observes that even strong reviews can’t fully overcome audience fatigue:

“General audiences are saying that more of the same, even when well-made and well-received, is not necessarily enough to get folks in theaters.”

He adds that while the Fantastic Four joining the MCU created an opening weekend boost, the film’s nature as a loose remake of Rise of the Silver Surfer undercut its novelty. In contrast, Superman was marketed as a completely new take, which helped broaden its appeal beyond core fans.

What Fantastic Four: First Steps’ Box Office Means for Marvel

The 66% second-weekend decline falls squarely in the middle of Marvel’s Phase 5 range between Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’s 48% and The Marvels’ 78%, and right alongside Captain America: Brave New World’s 68%. According to our exclusive data from Diesel Labs, Marvel’s second-weekend drops average about 63%, compared to 53% for non-Marvel action-adventure films.

From Diesel Labs:

“From our perspective the ‘hype’ around the drop is somewhat unwarranted. Based on our analysis it seems that this drop was within the benchmark performance range for Marvel.”

But Mendelson warns that the deeper problem is brand erosion:

“If Marvel’s brand is damaged to the point where they can’t spawn hit films from new-to-cinema properties, then they will be stuck recycling the 2010s MCU franchises.”

Katz believes the answer is to reform, not retreat:

“The MCU needs to require less homework of its viewers, create a more cohesive interlocking narrative with clear building blocks and escalation points for the overarching crossover events, take more creatively ambitious risks to provide audiences with something new, and maintain budget control. The lesson here is not to retreat – it’s to retool.”

With a worldwide total of about $382 million at the time of publication, almost evenly split between domestic and international, First Steps has yet to reach the rough break-even point often estimated at 2.5-3x its reported $200 million production budget.

While the drop may be typical for Marvel, the real question is whether the studio can re-engage general audiences with fresher ideas and more accessible storytelling or if the formula must rely on top-tier characters, nostalgia, and crossovers. 2026 brings just that with Spider-Man: Brand New Day and Avengers: Doomsday, which are billion-dollar shoo-ins. What comes next, though, may require a calibration in expectations and budgeting.