As of this writing, Fantastic Four: First Steps has earned $142.25 million after five days in North American theaters, jumping an “impressive as Superman” 36% from its $10.4 million Monday for a $14.2 million Tuesday. Concerns about a shockingly frontloaded weekend (barely double its $57 million Friday and 21% of its $117.64 million weekend stemming from Thursday previews) notwithstanding, it’s not like the film is collapsing into oblivion now that the hardcore MCU fans have checked it off their proverbial lists.
That was the general impression offered up in this latest episode of The Box Office Podcast, namely that Marvel’s latest was a step in the right direction (after the also pretty good Thunderbolts*) in terms of consistent quality and (in terms of Marvel rebooting a previously adapted property) “better-than-before” spectacle and melodrama. Beyond that…
Lisa Laman questions whether Shalla-Bal replaced Norrin Radd to allow Johnny Storm to “safely” find himself #HotForTheSurfer (relatable...).
Scott Mendelson wonders if the decision to set the standalone film in a fantastical version of 1960s America was an attempt to avoid dealing with real-world topicality.
Jeremy Fuster offers pretty plausible explanations for both (subjectively valid) choices. However, he agrees with the group that any goodwill earned from the Fantastic Four will do little to move the needle in terms of Avengers: Doomsday feeling (at this juncture) like anything other than a past-tense nostalgia cash-in.
However, as befitting his status as the host of the show, Scott Mendelson (when he’s not making fun of crying children) asks the most critical question: how the hell can an interdimensional being who is barely as tall as Godzilla eat an entire planet?
In terms of the written word -
Scott Mendelson explained why Lionsgate positioned Michael as the summer 2026 kick-off flick, not in early May but late April. Also, he discussed how the latest Superman reboot is succeeding partially because it learned the proper lessons from the last 30 years of 007 movies - Change the universe, but not the character.
Reupping this from last week, but Jeremy Fuster noted the deafening silence from the Hollywood community over the previous month-and-change of overwhelming National Guard and/or ICE presence in and around Los Angeles.
Lisa Laman mentioned this April 2024 Fangoria salute to Ralph Ineson as a modern horror icon. Of course, it’s now continuously relevant as the Witch star voices Galactus in the latest Fantastic Four flick. Also, a more recent piece (correctly) argues that theatrical moviegoing needs to be less expensive and more accessible.
Ryan Scott’s latest Tales from the Box Office discusses the spectacular k-pow of the previous attempts to reboot Fantastic Four. Oh, and because I’m a terrible person with no short-term memory since my third kid was born, I forgot to share Ryan’s article — which he mentioned during the Jurassic World Rebirth episode — from 2018 detailing riding the now-revamped Jurassic Park ride at Universal Studios for the first and last time.
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Scott Mendelson - The Outside Scoop and Puck News
Jeremy Fuster - TheWrap
Lisa Laman - Dallas Observer, Pajiba, Looper, Comic Book and Autostraddle
