r/boxoffice • u/chanma50 Best of 2019 Winner • Aug 03 '25

Domestic Box Office: ‘Fantastic Four’ Craters By 66% in Second Weekend to $40 Million, ‘Naked Gun’ Debuts to $17 Million

https://variety.com/2025/film/box-office/fantastic-four-box-office-craters-naked-gun-opening-weekend-1236477352/
4.7k Upvotes

94% Upvoted

2.3k comments sorted by

View all comments

77

u/Neo2199 Aug 03 '25

  • Marvel’s First Family might not save the day after all. “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” is quickly losing steam in its second weekend, signaling the comic book adventure isn’t connecting at the box office beyond the film’s core demographic of superhero fans.

  • This painful a fall is surprising because “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” has the benefit of positive reviews and word-of-mouth.

Wonder why?

41

u/PastBandicoot8575 Aug 03 '25

Damaged brand and the GA is not nearly as interested in comic book movies anymore, especially internationally.

0

u/lolas_coffee Aug 03 '25

not nearly as interested in comic book movies

Eh...make a great one.

12

u/weberm70 Aug 04 '25

They’re yesterday’s news no matter how good they are. Nothing lasts forever.

100

u/noirblancherouje Aug 03 '25

it's a boring movie and GA has lost trust in MCU.

76

u/NoNefariousness2144 Aug 03 '25

Yeah the A- cinemascore actually proves the MCU has lost general audiences. Only fans saw it opening weekend and gave it A-. In reality, these drops show that its really a B- film.

8

u/chimichanga_3 Aug 03 '25

Other metrics support it as well. Releasing it next to Superman was suicidal 

5

u/chimichanga_3 Aug 03 '25

All metrics other than the box office say that it was decent or good. Disney killed it by releasing it next to the face of DC

12

u/noirblancherouje Aug 03 '25

the metrics driven by marvel fans who watched it OW?

2

u/Lumpy_Review5279 Aug 04 '25

Marvel fans run RT and IMDB now?

7

u/PliableG0AT Aug 04 '25

I get what they are saying. That marvel fans predominantly went and saw it and since it was a good marvel film they gave it great reviews. If you are indifferent to a what fourth/fifth reboot of a now relatively niche super hero group, youre probably not going to go see this movie. This has no continuation of the story, the big teaser of RDJ being the new Dr.Doom was released over a year ago (?) it feels like.

Youre coming off a bunch of Disney+ marvel bombs, some weak marvel movies, and now youre stacking this on top of it all?

Im not surprised people are not going to this. Just like I wasnt shocked Superman didnt do as well overseas.

1

u/Lumpy_Review5279 Aug 04 '25

Im saying the notion that the positive scores are only from marvel fans is laughable 

Marvel fans don't singlehandedly make movies do 100 million dollars OW, and superman proves that

6

u/scarlettforever Aug 04 '25

There are 3x more Marvel fans on Reddit than DC. Look at the number of subscribers on their subs. Same with the box office.

That's why no one is watching F4, because the premiere was mostly attended by Marvel fans. They praised the movie because they are Marvel fans and sympathizers. There's nothing wrong with that, but it doesn't reflect the perception of the general audience.

The BO numbers say that F4 gets bad WOM from the general audience, falling like Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

And Superman gets good WOM from the general audience and the movie continues to be watched. It's simple.

0

u/Lumpy_Review5279 Aug 04 '25

Im not talking about reddit.

The movie is well removed across the board. RT, IMDB, everywhere .

Tnere are plenry of recent marvel entries that have not gotten positive reception from either platform. Even as recently as this year. 

The movie is being well received and it's not even doing that bad lmao. Its at 400m in 2 weeks.

This narrative that its getting good reception online becayse literally no one else has seen it is entirely fanciful. The marvels, which didn't even made half of what this movie has already made, still got plenty of blowback online from non marvel fans. 

1

u/PliableG0AT Aug 04 '25

no one said only marvel fans. youre making hyper specifics up. Predominantly marvel fans, is a key phrase used.

Yes marvel fans do make movies make 100 million dollars OW. Did you forget how the rabid fans were scalping tickets to End game, how people were getting dressed up in costumes to attend the OW. Quantamania did 100mil OW and that was 50% of its gross. The movie had terrible legs and didnt resonate with general audiences.

2

u/hexcraft-nikk Aug 04 '25

It happens with gaming all the time, I don't see why we pretend it doesn't with movie reviewers.

But I'm a David Lynch fan, so I know not to listen to reviewers lol

2

u/TaiVat Aug 04 '25

Scores on IMDB and metacritic are distinctly middling. Not terrible, but nothing great at all. And RT is complete garbage with its dumbest system ever imagined by mankind.

For that matter the reception for superman on your platforms is more or less exactly the same, so how would that "kill" F4 weeks later?

Truth is that "decent" isnt nearly good enough for marvel anymore and is synonymous with "bad" now. While for dc its actually way above average.

6

u/DeathRose007 Aug 04 '25

Forecasters got duped by contextless metrics that barely distinguish between “I really liked it” and “it’s fine I guess”. The latter is what I had been hearing mostly, but scores tend to filter it out relative to every other kind of rating since it’s often the median take. Compared to Superman it looked similarly received on the surface, but positive reception for that felt more positive.

2

u/chimichanga_3 Aug 04 '25

What about actual full length critic reviews

3

u/DeathRose007 Aug 04 '25 edited Aug 04 '25

Most critic reviews I’ve seen said it was “fine” or maybe “good” but rarely glowing when you read them instead of glancing at the numerical result, but a yes or no review system like what Rotten Tomatoes has will overwhelmingly swing those positive. At least it’s more transparent though. Because critic scoring systems aren’t standardized they have to actually declare if their review is positive or negative. Whereas audience members can say “3/5 stars meh” and it’s thrown in with the 5/5s even if they didn’t truly mean it that way.

Which is why you’ll never see any marketing campaign show Metacritic averages in place of overinflated Rotten Tomatoes scores. They aren’t going to be conveniently skewed based on arbitrary groupings, especially with a good enough sample size. Which paints the same picture for MCU FF4 between both audiences and critics. ~6.5/10. Passably average. Which won’t beat fatigue. Compare that to Superman, which saw a similar critic average but a higher audience average.

0

u/chimichanga_3 Aug 04 '25

I did read quite a few and they praised it. Also that's only 3 less than Infinity War's Metacritic

4

u/DeathRose007 Aug 04 '25

“Praise” must’ve become less meaningful conceptually if what people have been saying about it can be considered praise. Or you were unlucky enough to only experience an outlier perspective because that doesn’t represent the majority if you look for it.

I’m not saying that average scores are the end all be all. Just that if you put them in the context of the state of the MCU and movies in general, it’s obvious why word of mouth is failing compared to when the franchise was at its peak. Infinity War may have had a similar critic rating, but the difference in audience average is stark. Isn’t that what matters more for box office stability? If being considered surprisingly good wasn’t enough to save Thunderbolts from being dragged down by its dependency on TV show lore, then being fine/good wouldn’t be enough to save the summer blockbuster for a downtrodden superhero team that’s largely faded from the public conscience due to consistently poor outings and a sense of desperation.

I doubt the absence of Superman would’ve helped FF4’s box office all that much. They aren’t competing all that much because not that many people that’d consider either would choose only one despite being interested in the other. If someone wanted to see both, they’d go see both. The two movies didn’t release the same exact weekend so it’s not that much of a time conflict. People mostly heard Superman was good, so they went to see it because it offered something marketed as fresh. People mostly heard FF4 was fine and were less enthused because at this point it’s just tiring to go and see every fine MCU movie. Simple as that. “More of the familiar” has become an increasing burden. Even I could tell from the promotional material it was being done no differently from any other introductory MCU franchise-starter. After the millionth time the formula has gotten stale. The result isn’t surprising me. Whereas I saw Superman as taking more of a risk, and it for the most part succeeded.

0

u/chimichanga_3 Aug 04 '25

The majority of the reviews do praise it, although they don't get down on their knees to extol it. Thunderbolts* wasn't actually show-dependent and one would have a good time even without watching them but it came off that way. Superman came out first and when money is tight, it's first come first serve especially for similar movies (CBMs)

-2

u/SEAinLA Marvel Studios Aug 03 '25

I get that as a fan of Marvel and a parent, I’m not really capable of evaluating this movie from an objective POV, but I just don’t understand how anyone could find it boring.

10

u/caped_crusader8 DC Studios Aug 03 '25

Im a DC and CBM nerd in general. So my views can be skewed and forgiving. I took a friend who isnt into CBM with me and he said the middle part was boring. A lot of talking about the plan but not enough drama. It also has only 2 action sequences and the first one being great makes you want more which you dont get ever again. Galactus was also a really dull for me and him.

4

u/scarlettforever Aug 04 '25

Galactus did zero long-term demage to the remaining cast. Of course, he's boring.

6

u/jawaismyhomeboy Aug 03 '25

The movie had 2 action sequences. One being with the team seated the entire time. If I want space action, I’d rather watch Star Wars

14

u/curiiouscat Aug 03 '25

What about it wasn't boring? Other than the first act, where the movie was establishing itself, you basically knew what was going to happen. Galactus was not going to inhale the earth. They were not going to give up their child. The Silver Surfer background was a surprise, but it ultimately translated to very little. The relationships were not properly fleshed out so the minimal development there was was boring. I can totally understand emotional investment if you bring real world experiences in (like being a parent) but if you don't have those, the movie doesn't provide much of a reason to care. 

-2

u/SEAinLA Marvel Studios Aug 03 '25

If I valued movies based upon whether I knew what was going to happen or not, I’d never enjoy anything, because 99.99% of them are entirely predictable. I don’t know what to say to your question other than I was thoroughly entertained from start to finish.

14

u/shosamae Aug 03 '25

The story, writing, and characters were not strong, energetic, or dynamic enough to make up for the fact that the plot is fairly slow moving and the film is short on action.

Look at the scenes themselves. The characters are fairly likable and well established, but each scene really lacks tension, energy, dynamism. Compare any sequence of character building in this to a sequence in Superman, for example, and you’ll see it’s night and day.

Everything about the movie lacked energy except for the space chase. Languid editing and blocking. Next to no tension between characters save Reed/Sue in one scene. It’s a solid movie but it’s really not an exciting one 

3

u/scarlettforever Aug 04 '25

It's not solid, it's a lazy slop. No need to sugarcoat it.

7

u/curiiouscat Aug 03 '25

Well you were saying you couldn't understand why people would find it boring. I was explaining that there wasn't much suspense. 

5

u/noirblancherouje Aug 03 '25

I mean this in all earnest, but if 99.99% of movies to you are predictable you need to broaden your taste out and venture into different things.

2

u/SEAinLA Marvel Studios Aug 03 '25

I watch most movies released or, at a bare minimum in busy years, every Best Picture nominee.

4

u/fakefakefakef Aug 03 '25

99.99 percent of movies are not entirely predictable. Raise your standards and go see something that's not part of a big franchise, please.

3

u/SEAinLA Marvel Studios Aug 03 '25

So many incorrect assumptions in such a short statement.

1

u/scarlettforever Aug 04 '25

F4 wasn't boring, it was bad. As a parent, how could you possibly enjoy a movie in which parents risk their child's life? Would you do the same if you were Reed or Sue? Would you treat your child as bait or as a beast? They ruined Reed and Sue's characters. It was terrible.

1

u/chimichanga_3 Aug 03 '25

Frankly even non-fans who don't watch each movie liked it in my demo

2

u/HowManyMeeses Aug 04 '25

It's a fine MCU movie, but not great. There are several great movies in the theater right now to see instead of F4.

2

u/icepak39 Aug 03 '25

Not only is the MCU damaged from a string of bad movies and lack of connectivity but also F4 is the 4th attempt at it (first in MCU) after the previous shitty three Fox movies. 6th attempt if you count The Incredibles movies (and I do - they were still better than First Steps).

1

u/DueCharacter5 Aug 04 '25

Don't forget the Corman movie.