Summary
Although there surely is room for bothThe Fantastic Four: First StepsandSupermanto succeed at the box office, that won’t stop Marvel and DC diehards from duking it out online. Unsurprisingly, the first major talking point will be which film has the bigger opening weekend.
WithMarveland DC struggling with audiences in recent years,The Fantastic Four: First StepsandSupermanare something of a return to form for both comic book titans.Supermaniskicking off a brand-new multimedia franchisecalled the DC Universe for Warner Bros. whileThe Fantastic Four: First Stepsis the first entry in Marvel Studios' Phase Six collection of MCU films and television shows. If you want to nitpick, the DC Universetechnicallybegan with last year’sCreature Commandosand the MCU has had two feature films this year—Captain America: Brave New WorldandThunderbolts*—that found middling responses at the box office. That being said, bothSupermanandFirst Stepsreviewed generally well with critics and early tracking shows that the newFantastic Fourfilm is performing well at the box office asSupermanhas done thus far.
So who will come out on top? At the moment, it looks likeThe Fantastic Four: First Stepscould narrowly claim the crown, but it’s far from over.Varietyis reporting thatFirst Stepshas brought in around $57 million combined from preview screenings and Friday’s showings.That would be just behindA Minecraft Movie’s biggest opening day of the calendar year and just ahead ofSuperman’s $56.1 million.First Stepswill have to keep filling seats all weekend long if it wants to topSuperman’s three-day opening weekend gross of around $125 million. Which film ends up with the better opening weekend is pretty much a coin toss at this point.
It Is A Tight Race BetweenSupermanAndThe Fantastic Four: First StepsFor Opening Weekend Dominance
A Minecraft MovieIs The True Winner Either Way
No matter how you slice it,The Fantastic Four: First Stepswill undoubtedly end up having the best opening weekend of any Marvel Studios film this year.Captain America: Brave New Worldgrossed around $88 million during its opening weekend andThunderbolts*performed even worse, bringing in around $74 million. Both of those films ended up being theatrical money-losers for Marvel and Disney, although they surely will have broken even by the time home video sales and merchandising are taken into account.
The Fantastic Four: First Stepsis the fourth time that Marvel’s First Family has made it to the big screen. 2005’sFantastic Fourbrought in $333 million worldwide, while its 2007 sequelFantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfergrossed $301 million around the globe. That prompted Fox to revamp the series with2015’sFantastic Four, which tanked and managed to bring in just $167 million worldwide, with a paltry $56 million domestically. Yes, for those keeping track at home,The Fantastic Four: First Stepsoutgrossed 2015’sFantastic Fourin the United States and Canada in one measly day. Not too shabby.
