Disney’s ‘Fantastic Four’ Rockets to $118 Million Debut

Left to right: Joseph Quinn, Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach attend the ‘Fantastic Four: First Steps’ premiere in Los Angeles. (Getty Images for Disney)

It’s another big weekend for superheroes, and for Walt Disney’s Marvel Studios.

The latest Marvel movie, Fantastic Four: First Steps, rocketed to a $118 million first-place debut in domestic theaters this weekend. Combined with overseas box-office sales, the superhero flick took in $218 million globally, according to Comscore.

In addition, Superman, the latest from Warner Bros., notched another $24.8 million in domestic ticket sales in its third weekend, coming in second behind the Marvel film. The latest Superman has brought in a cumulative $289.5 million in ticket sales.

“The lesson is that if you build great movies, audiences will head to the multiplex, and that’s what’s happening over this final weekend of July,” said Comscore senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian. Three other summer blockbusters, Comcast -owned Universal’s Jurassic World Rebirth, Warner Bros.’ F1 The Movie, and Paramount’s Smurfs, rounded out the weekend’s top five.

So far this year, Hollywood’s domestic box-office sales are outpacing the same time a year ago, up 12% to nearly $5.2 billion, according to Comscore.

“August is going to bring the heat with one of the most interesting and diverse lineups of films from every genre,” Dergarabedian said. It’s typically a month of big debuts, he noted. In past years, August theatrical premieres have included the first Guardians of the Galaxy, Apocalypse Now, Body Heat, and Fast Times at Ridgemont High.

This August’s calendar includes the premieres of Universal’s The Bad Guys 2, Paramount’s The Naked Gun, Warner Bros.’ Weapons, and Disney’s Freakier Friday, among other films.

Dergarabedian said he had confidence that the industry would cross the $4 billion domestic summer box-office threshold, “a milestone that has only been crossed once since 2020.” That was 2023’s “Barbenheimer” summer, when ticket sales reached $4.1 billion.

Write to Liz Moyer at liz.moyer@barrons.com