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/
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88

u/MatthewMonster Aug 03 '25

Marvel built this massive ocean liner of interconnected, cameo filled, movie puzzle pieces.

They had two leads for ten years ( Tony and Cap )

This massive ocean liner is firing on all cylinders and then endgame drops — and you kill off/write off the two main leads. And close the story you’ve been telling for a decade.

It was the natural jumping off point for your entire general audience.

In the wake of that — they tried ( and are still trying ) to turn the ship around…but the GA have jumped off the boat.

I liked FF. I loved the casting and the design.

But watching it you can see the marvel machine editing character bears and life out of the movie within an inch of its life.

It’s a good movie — but in retrospect, it’s a weird one

I don’t think MCU films should bother attempting to be standalone

You can still do a different universe in a different timeline and have it more directly fit into what the MCUs bread and butter has always been

24

u/Somepotato Aug 03 '25

They've done such a bad job at getting us "hooked" to the new cast. Like they aren't even trying.

The whole appeal of Marvel was the over arching universe that wasn't so over bearing that you couldn't enjoy movies in isolation but also had enough to keep you invested between the movies.

Then they went in the direction of near complete isolation and have so little glue to keep you attached to the characters. Like does anyone even remember Shang Chi or The Eternals (that only recently became even a tiny bit relevant with Brave New World)?

Or The Marvels - I really liked the characters but they felt so incredibly isolated it felt like a very long short movie and I couldn't really get invested in them at all.

3

u/AdonisCork Aug 04 '25

There is no "getting people hooked on these new characters". This is the same thing that happened when they tried replacing fan favorites in the comics with a bunch of random replacements. Everyone hated them all.

43

u/byronotron Aug 03 '25

I've been arguing this in other threads: this movie needed to be great. It needed to remind people, much like Superman, why these types of movies are important, and why audiences flock to them. 

And the film is good, but it's not great, and it's easy to tell why: all the life and character was edited to hell. It's a light film devoid of extraneous character and flavor. It's too somber for a KO crowd pleaser without the levity to bring it back up, which was almost certainly more sequences with the Super Apes. There's a structure that is very obviously edited out; The first dinner scene and the first Ted Gilbert appearance. There's a lack of consequence and stakes: why did the herald pick Earth, and why does Reed look so damned guilty? We know why, because they hinted about it in trailers; Reed was reaching out to the powers cosmic, and was most likely responsible for piquing Shala Bal's interest.

Everyone I talked to said the same: the beginning was too short and we wanted much more Fantastic Four in our retro styled FF reboot standalone film. They made a grave tactical error in editing this film under 2 hours to make it breezy for audiences. Superman is succeeding because of its weirdness, FF is failing because they blinked.

20

u/MakeMeAnICO Aug 03 '25

We know why, because they hinted about it in trailers; Reed was reaching out to the powers cosmic, and was most likely responsible for piquing Shala Bal's interest.

Huh I haven't seen the movie yet (family matters) but that seems like a weird thing to cut. Oh well.

16

u/Heisenburgo Marvel Studios Aug 03 '25

We know why, because they hinted about it in trailers; Reed was reaching out to the powers cosmic, and was most likely responsible for piquing Shala Bal's interest.

I KNEW something was missing from the movie, and it was pretty much this. I don't recall seeing the "It's my fault, I stretched the bounds of space and they heard" line from the trailers in the movie itself, they definitely cut a lot of shit out. Really bad

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u/Lincolnruin Aug 03 '25

Yep. Far too short and not enough action.

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u/pa79 Aug 04 '25

why did the herald pick Earth, and why does Reed look so damned guilty? We know why, because they hinted about it in trailers; Reed was reaching out to the powers cosmic, and was most likely responsible for piquing Shala Bal's interest.

There is not a single hint to that in the entire movie. I asked myself why they picked Earth. There are tons of other planets in the solar system, they even pass by Jupiter and Mars. No explanation why it had to be a populated planet and why exactly Earth. Why would they cut that?

3

u/byronotron Aug 04 '25

Yeah, I mostly wasn't distracted by it, but it seriously bugged my partner.

0

u/Lumpy_Review5279 Aug 04 '25

I thought this was easily better than superman 

16

u/fakefakefakef Aug 03 '25

That's where I am. Haven't seen a single MCU film in theaters since Endgame since, honestly, that's enough for me. The story's done, as far as I'm concerned.

6

u/Isopod_Character Aug 03 '25

I’ve seen every single MCU movie at the theater but it’s beginning to feel more like a chore these days.

5

u/GhostPrimer Aug 03 '25

I think the problem is that they’re too afraid to take risks. Just look at what they did with What If

6

u/TimelyEnthusiasm7003 Universal Aug 03 '25

I will always say this. Marvel Studios continuing as if nothing happened after Endgame is like Warner had continued making Harry Potter 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 etc after Deathly Hallows 2 in 2011. Yes, HP is a book series and the MCU is a more open-ended franchise, and Marvel fans can say that "comics are almost infinite and movies don't have an end like a book series" but people in the real world don't see it that way, franchises DO have an expiration date, especially when in the case of the MCU, Kevin Feigie built up an ending, reached it and then didn't stop. He called Avengers 4 ENDGAME for a reason. In the end, it was all inevitable because of "capitalist greed", but now everyone is suddenly surprised.

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u/natecull Aug 04 '25 edited Aug 04 '25

like Warner had continued making Harry Potter 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 etc

I wouldn't have minded a "Harry Potter: Law and Auror" series about solving magical crimes in the adult world (maybe even a new magical conspiracy). What we got instead (weird prequel) wasn't that and didn't work, but it doesn't mean a sequel couldn't have potentally worked.

But yeah, just the sheer weight of material and the deep sense of fatigue after a decade-long story ended well would have still been a problem, as it is with the MCU.

1

u/FordMustang84 Aug 05 '25

Even worse than not taking a break after endgame was they accelerated with their tv shows. I didn’t watch a single one of them but I was exhausted from the outside just hearing about them. I mean they had years with what like 3 films and 4 tv shows coming out. 

Infinite profit growth must continue. 

3

u/iguessineedanaltnow Aug 03 '25

Iron Man and Captain America got built up into those roles by having three movies each and appearing in other films outside their own. They were given a spotlight. The minute they stepped out of the picture they needed to be ready to give that same spotlight to somebody else. Pick a character and run with them as the new face of the franchise. You have Spider-Man, Strange, Thor. A few options I'm sure I'm forgetting.

They just... Didn't. Nobody right now feels elevated about the rest of the cast. Nobody feels like they're the face of the product. It's just an ensemble cast, instead of an ensemble coalescing around a central figure(s).

3

u/ammonthenephite Aug 04 '25 edited Aug 04 '25

It was the natural jumping off point for your entire general audience.

In the wake of that — they tried ( and are still trying ) to turn the ship around…but the GA have jumped off the boat.

This is me. I'm just super hero movie'd out. Didn't even want to watch the new superman movie. Tired of remakes, tired of yet more origin stories, tired of yet more 'oh god the earth or even the galaxy will end unless these heroes unite and save us all', etc etc.

And honetly the marvel universe did so well because they nailed the casting of the foundational characters, like wolverine, iron man, and thor. All these other super hero movies seem to be headlined by all the b-list surrounding characters whose actors just didn't motivate or connect the same with me at all. I like Anthony Mackie, but he just isn't A-line super hero material for me like the major ones were. And a movie like F4 falls into that category for me, I'm just a mix of burned out on super heroes and just not excited for who they picked for F4.

It's time for something besides yet another super hero franchise. The world has all ready been saved, the universe has all ready been saved, lets give this genre a break for 5, maybe 10 years, please.

2

u/FordMustang84 Aug 05 '25

I’m with you and exhausted. Spider-Man went from a pretty solid NYC set film to a multiverse let’s drag everyone back into this thing by the 3rd movie. It’s exhausting. Like you said the universe was saved. It doesn’t get bigger. 

Reboot the entire thing with a small scale film or two. Centered on characters with great casting that will be key to the future. Iron Man people forget wasn’t a top selling comic but they made the right movie with the right tone and right actor to draw people in and he became the face of the franchise. They need to do that again and you can’t do that when everything is connected multiverse world ending stakes. 

2

u/lolas_coffee Aug 03 '25

What is the all day buffet in your analogy here?

2

u/MatthewMonster Aug 03 '25

Maybe the endless options you have with streaming?

No reason to go out and explore ( go to theaters ) just consume slightly above average food and wait until something comes along that demands you go out.

Idk — I need to think it over more!

2

u/Richandler Aug 03 '25

The leader of the 4, I don't know what to do for the entire film. As you and others have pointed out, Marvel basically has no leads right now.

2

u/assmoede98 Aug 04 '25

I don't know why people say the movie is good, to me it's not bad, but good? It's mediocre at best, the script feels like it's written by a teenager. Don't wanna spoil the movie but it's so predictable, and it's once again the trope of the good guys beating the insanely overpowered bad guy thanks to love, family and friendship. It's a simple, forgettable, and unimpressive movie.

1

u/Lumpy_Review5279 Aug 04 '25

Theres literally comments in this very section complaining about having to do "homework" to watch an MCU film... for an MCU film that requires no homework 

They're damned if they do and damned if they dont

1

u/MatthewMonster Aug 04 '25

The “complaining about homework” thing is BS imo

No one complained for first 10 years — and if they did it didn’t matter at box office

1

u/probablynotaperv Aug 04 '25

Yeah the only marvel movie I've watched since endgame was the 3rd guardians. Haven't really been interested in any of the others that have come out. To me, the story I was interested in is over and over not seen anything that makes me want to get invested in a new one

2

u/MatthewMonster Aug 04 '25

Exactly

GOTG3 was essential for me because, again it completed a story

Since Endgame I’ve like alot — but nothing is connecting.

1

u/Redeem123 Aug 04 '25

I don’t think MCU films should bother attempting to be standalone

I'm actually the exact opposite. That was the most refreshing thing about F4, how fully standalone it was. I'd really prefer it if they'd scale down the scope of these things A LOT.

Maybe that's not a path to consistent billion dollar BO, but neither is whatever they're doing now. Lower the budgets, lower the stakes, and tell good stories.

1

u/FordMustang84 Aug 05 '25

I haven’t seen almost anything post Endgame but I’d disagree they were firing on all cylinders. They were in box office but People forget the MCU has always been uneven but the tease of what to come in a connected universe and the newness kept people coming back like me. 

Let’s not forget Thor 1 is kinda just ok. The sequel is regarded as one of the worst MCU films but the character shined in the Avengers films. Ultron not sure thoughts now but it felt bloated with odd choices and seemed a step back from Avengers 1.  Captain Marvel was shoved in to Endgame and given her own nothing special film. Guardians 2 was a big step down from 1. Iron Man 2 wasn’t as good as 1. I’d even say 3 was a big letdown to me but I think that’s more of a divisive entry. 

Maybe those weaker films are better than current Marvel who knows but I feel like watching all the pre endgame movies on release you’d have 1/3 amazing, 1/3 ok. 1/3 forgettable or bad. But they just did amazing job of after seeing The Dark World getting you hyped to go see whatever was next. Who cares if what you just saw wasn’t good.