‘Fantastic Four: First Steps’ Smashes Box Office with $218M, Overtakes Superman
Marvel’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps just gave the superhero genre a serious jolt, kicking off its theatrical run with a massive $218 million global opening weekend. That includes $118 million in domestic earnings and $100 million from international markets.
This marks Marvel’s first $100 million domestic opening of 2025 and ends DC’s Superman streak at the top after a solid three-week reign.
Pre-release predictions had the film opening between $100-110 million in the US, but it easily beat those numbers. With a $57 million haul on day one alone, First Steps logged the second-biggest opening day of the year, just behind A Minecraft Movie ($57.11 million). It’s now the fourth-highest domestic debut of 2025, trailing only Minecraft, Lilo & Stitch ($146M), and Superman ($125M).
Disney, which owns Marvel Studios, crossed another major milestone by becoming the first Hollywood studio this year to surpass $3 billion in global ticket sales, now standing at $3.19 billion. This is the fourth straight year Disney has hit that mark.
Critics and audiences are both on board with the reboot. The film holds an 88% score from critics and 93% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, an A- CinemaScore, and 4.5 stars on PostTrak. It’s now Marvel’s 37th consecutive No. 1 opening.
This win couldn’t have come at a better time. Earlier Marvel releases this year — Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts — pulled in $415 million and $382 million globally, respectively. Fantastic Four topped both of those full runs in just its first three days.
Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige highlighted the significance of finally bringing the team into the MCU:
“Every major storyline we’ve adapted in the past had the Fantastic Four in some form in the comics. But we didn’t have the rights—until now.”
With fans and critics rallying behind it, Fantastic Four: First Steps is shaping up to be the turnaround Marvel desperately needed.
