“The Fantastic Four: First Steps” stretched its arms around $57 million from 4,125 theaters across Friday and preview screenings. Per Disney‘s numbers, that’s the second-biggest opening day of the calendar year, ranking just behind “A Minecraft Movie” ($57.11 million). The film is playing Imax and other premium large format auditoriums.
It also just edges out Marvel Studios‘ comic book banner rival, DC Studios’ “Superman,” which began with a $56.1 million opening day just two weeks ago. It’ll be a close call on whether “Fantastic Four” can keep pacing ahead to beat the $125 million three-day opening of “Superman.”
It’s the best first day kick-off for a Marvel Cinematic Universe entry since “Deadpool & Wolverine” dominated the box office 12 months ago. And like that R-rated smash, “Fantastic Four” is based on Marvel characters that were acquired by Disney after the studio’s acquisition of 20th Century Fox in 2019, demonstrating some value to that $71 billion merger. Three previous big-budget “Fantastic Four” entries were produced at Fox, from 2005 to 2015. (There was also an unreleased 1994 feature, spearheaded by Roger Corman as a means to retain film rights for German producers. It circulates among diehards.)
With a story that has little connection to other Marvel Cinematic Universe entries, “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” has presented itself as a relatively fresh entry point to audiences. Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn and Ebon Moss-Bachrach, who lead the film as Marvel’s first family, are all MCU newcomers. “First Steps” also has the benefit of strong reviews and good audience sentiment (pollster Cinema Score turned in an “A-” grade among ticketbuyers).
At a production cost of $200 million, plus much more to market and distribute, the film will need to hold as one of the biggest grossers of the year to turn a profit in theaters. Marvel’s two previous 2025 releases, “Captain America: Brave New World” and “Thunderbolts*,” launched to $88.5 million and $76 million respectively. Both ended up losing money theatrically.
Disney hopes to gain some momentum with the Matt Shakman-directed “Fantastic Four,” ahead of the studio’s extensive hiatus from superhero films. Marvel is producing “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” the fourth Tom Holland-led entry set to release July 2026. But Sony is distributing that film. Disney will have nearly a year and a half to plan for its next MCU installment, the mega-team-up “Avengers: Doomsday,” set for December 2026.
Second place goes to Warner Bros.’ “Superman,” which added $7.1 million on Friday. It’s down 57% from its daily total a week ago, now competing with a newer superhero spectacle. The cinematic universe-rebooter should fly to a $289 million domestic total after its third weekend, which will put it ahead of “Sinners” ($278 million) to have it rank as the fourth-highest grossing North American release of the year.
Universal’s “Jurassic World Rebirth” is sliding to third in its fourth weekend, adding another $3.6 million on Friday. The seventh entry in the dinosaur series is projecting $13 million for its fourth weekend, which would be another good hold at a 45% drop. Total domestic gross is expected to pass $301 million through Sunday — only the third release of 2025 to get into the triple hundreds.
Fourth looks to go to “F1.” Warner Bros.’ release of Apple Studios’ racing thriller added $1.8 million Friday, down just 37% from its daily total a week ago. At a production cost of $250 million, theatrical profitability is a questionable prospect at best for the Brad Pitt-led feature. But it has put up strong holds since debuting a month ago. The film looks to hit a $165 million domestic total through Sunday.
Paramount’s IP revival “Smurfs” rounds out the top five, adding $1.72 million on Friday and projecting $5.6 million for its second weekend. After a low opening, that’s a 49% second-weekend drop, showing some relative staying power as the only new animated offering to families. Domestic total will hit $22.9 million through the first 10 days — a disappointing result against a $58 million production budget.
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