‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps’ Crushes Box Office, Outearning 2015’s ‘Fantastic Four’ Entire Run in Opening Weekend

The Fantastic Four have finally hit it big at the box office. The newest version of Marvel’s first family, Fantastic Four: First Steps, made a huge splash in its opening weekend, bringing in $118 million in North America alone.

That’s according to estimates released by the studio on Sunday. It’s the fourth biggest debut of the year, right behind A Minecraft Movie, Lilo & Stitch, and Superman.

Worldwide, the numbers are even more impressive. The movie pulled in another $100 million from 52 international markets, giving it a $218 million global debut. That’s a strong start for the first Fantastic Four movie produced under Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige and Disney.

The success was expected, but the film still managed to beat some projections. Just days before its release, it was tracking to open with about $100–110 million in the U.S. and another $90–110 million overseas.

On Thursday night alone, the film made $24.4 million in previews, the highest preview total of the year, even topping Superman, which came out just two weeks earlier.

The opening day total reached $57 million, making it the second-highest single day for a 2025 film so far, just behind A Minecraft Movie. And by the end of its first weekend, Fantastic Four: First Steps had easily taken the top spot at the box office, going beyond what many expected.

This big opening is especially important when you compare it to what happened a decade ago. The last Fantastic Four movie, released in 2015, was considered a flop. That version made just $25.6 million in its first weekend and only $167.9 million during its entire run. The 2025 reboot, in just one weekend, beat that total by a wide margin.

The 2015 movie struggled right out of the gate. It opened behind Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation and had one of the weakest openings for a superhero film at the time. It earned only $11.3 million on opening day, which included Thursday night previews. Reviews were mostly negative, and audiences didn’t respond well either.

Chris Aronson, who was Fox’s president of domestic distribution back then, spoke to The New York Times after the disappointing weekend. “There’s not much to say. I have never seen a confluence of events impact the opening of a movie so swiftly,” he said, pointing to the poor reception and even a now-infamous tweet from director Josh Trank that blamed the studio for the film’s problems.

Now, nearly ten years later, Marvel seems to have turned things around. With Kevin Feige at the helm and a strong fan response out of the gate, Fantastic Four: First Steps has given the franchise the box office win it’s been waiting for.

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