‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps’ Falls Behind as ‘Superman’ Dominates Theaters
Superman is soaring high at the box office while Marvel’s Fantastic Four: First Steps is struggling to keep up. The latest numbers, reported as of August 3, 2025, show a pretty big gap between the two superhero movies.
Fantastic Four has earned $197.1 million in the United States and Canada, plus $170.3 million from other countries. That adds up to $367.4 million worldwide. Meanwhile, Superman has been flying much faster, raking in $316.1 million domestically and $235.3 million overseas. That’s a massive $551.4 million worldwide total.
Things didn’t look so bad at first for Fantastic Four. Before it came out, box office trackers expected it to earn between $190 and $210 million globally in its first weekend. The film had a strong launch, but that energy didn’t last.
On its second Friday, it made just $11.7 million. That’s an 80% drop from its first Friday earnings, one of the steepest falls for a superhero movie this year.
Superman, in comparison, handled its second weekend much better. It dropped 54% but still pulled in about $57 million. Fans and box office watchers have been quick to notice the difference.
On the box-office subreddit, user NGGKroze broke it down like this: “Fantastic Four is now $42 million behind Superman globally after the same amount of time, compared to just $3 million behind after opening weekend.” They also predicted that if things keep going the same way, Fantastic Four will probably finish somewhere between $490 and $520 million worldwide. If it somehow steadies itself, it could hit $550 million — but that’s a big “if.”
It’s Fantastic Punk Rock – F4 vs Superman: As Fantastic Four disappoints with huge 2nd weekend drop, its now $42M (-10.2%) globally behind Superman in the same time frame, opposed to just $3M on OW. With such trend F4 will settle in the $490-520M range. Stabilization would put it at $520-550M.
byu/NGGKroze inboxoffice
Fantastic Four: First Steps is Marvel’s latest try at bringing the famous superhero team to the big screen. It’s set in a stylish, retro-futuristic version of the 1960s, with the heroes battling the cosmic villain Galactus. Matt Shakman directed the movie, and the cast includes Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and Joseph Quinn as the Fantastic Four. Julia Garner, Sarah Niles, Mark Gatiss, Natasha Lyonne, Paul Walter Hauser, and Ralph Ineson also star.
Even with that big cast and Marvel’s name behind it, the film hasn’t managed to keep pace with DC’s Man of Steel. Superman still has the clear lead in what was supposed to be the summer’s big superhero face-off.
Together. As a family.
— Marvel Studios (@MarvelStudios) April 17, 2025
Marvel Studios’ #TheFantasticFour: First Steps arrives in theaters July 25. pic.twitter.com/flctlh3Adq
Unless Fantastic Four finds some way to get audiences back into theaters, it looks like Superman will fly away with the victory, and maybe by a huge margin.
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