“The Fantastic Four: First Steps” is hanging on to No. 1 in its sophomore outing at the box office, despite a disappointing weekend two result and competition from Dave Franco, Detective Frank Drebin Jr. and “The Bad Guys” crew.
“Fantastic Four” grossed $11.7 million domestically in its second Friday on the big screen, marking a devastating 80% drop from its debut. With that disappointing result, the film will most likely fall short of its initial weekend two estimates of $45 to $52 million by Sunday. Its domestic grand total currently sits at $170 million and could reach as high as $198 million by the end of the weekend. Marvel shelled out more than $200 million to produce “Fantastic Four.”
The comic book tentpole, headlined by Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Joseph Quinn, was shaping up to be the MCU’s first post-pandemic success at bringing a new super team to cinemas after missing the mark with “Thunderbolts*” in May, “The Marvels” in 2023 and “Eternals” in 2021. However, the film appears to be having trouble expanding past comic book fans, even after a solid start of $118 million.
With “Fantastic Four” struggling, theater owners are hoping for early August wins from this week’s three new major releases: Universal and DreamWorks’ animated sequel “The Bad Guys 2,” Paramount’s “The Naked Gun” and Neon’s his-and-hers body-horror thriller “Together.”
Universal and DreamWorks’ “The Bad Guys 2” took second, earning $9.1 million on Friday from 3,852 screens. The animated sequel is projected to heist $22 million over the weekend. Starring Sam Rockwell, Marc Maron, Craig Robinson and more, the film sees the crew of wisecracking thieves come out of retirement for one last job. The film cost $80 million.
“The Naked Gun” came in third on Friday, locking up $6.3 million domestically from 3,344 theaters. It’s a solid result considering the scarcity of theatrical comedies. The film, which boasts a slim 85-minute runtime, looks to gross $16.5 million by Sunday. “Naked Gun” sees a typically brooding Liam Neeson in the role of Detective Frank Drebin Jr., who must solve a murder to keep the Police Squad from shutting down for good. Other cast members include Pamela Anderson, Paul Walter Hauser, CCH Pounder and Kevin Durand. Akiva Schaffer directed and co-wrote the script with Doug Mand and Dan Gregor. Paramount spent $42 million on the reboot.
The original “Naked Gun,” spawned from the 1982 TV series “Police Squad,” was led by legendary funny man Leslie Nielsen. In the years following its 1988 release, the film became a singular and essential film in the American comedy canon. Two sequels were released: 1991’s “The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear” and 1994’s “Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult.”
“Together” slid to sixth, scaring up an estimated $2.1 million on Friday from 2,302 theaters. The Neon release is aiming for $7.5 million to $10 million over the first five days in theaters. Alison Brie and Franco, who are married in real life, star as a struggling couple who become victims of a mysterious body-fusing force. The indie studio spent $17 million on the film following its Sundance debut.
James Gunn’s “Superman” was fourth, grossing $4 million on Friday. The DC Studios debut looks to fly past $316 million domestically by Sunday, and has grossed $306 million domestically so far.
Rounding out the top five is Universal’s “Jurassic World Rebirth,” which earned $2.4 million on Friday. Starring Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali and Jonathan Bailey, the soft reboot looks to gross $317 million by Sunday.