While a significant part of the Marvel Comics legacy, the Fantastic Four doesn't have a particularly great big screen history. The first theatrically released blockbuster featuring the team (not counting the notorious and 1994 movie) performed modestly at the box office in 2005 – earning over $300 million against an $87.5 million budget – but it was critically planned, and ticket sales dipped instead of rose with the release of Tim Story's Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer two years later (a title also not exactly loved by critics). And the less that's said about the Josh Trank-directed Fantastic Four flop from 2015, the better.
Now that the rights to Marvel's First Family have returned home, however, the legacy is changing. While Marvel Studios' track record has been iffier in recent years compared to the glory days of the Infinity Saga, Matt Shakman's The Fantastic Four: First Steps is looking like a legitimate hit three days into its release. The early box office results are in for the 2025 film's opening weekend, and it easily took over the number one spot domestically, bumping out James Gunn's Superman. You can check out the full Top 10 below and join me after for analysis.
