Mr. Fantastic and and his family have cleared the launch pad in high style.
Director Matt Shakman‘s acclaimed superhero movie The Fantastic Four: First Steps launched to a promising $24.4 million in Thursday previews at the North American box office to score the biggest preview gross the year to date ahead of rival DC’s Superman ($22.5 million), as well as the biggest since fellow Marvel title Deadpool & Wolverine a year ago ($38.5 million).
That’s welcome news for the Disney-owned suggest Marvel Studios, where chief Kevin Feige and his team are looking for redemption after a rough few years (Deadpool & Wolverine being the exception). It also comes as Disney becomes the first Hollywood studio to cross $3 billion in global ticket sales, a milestone it will cross sometime today, July 25. And Marvel boasts three of the five top preview grosses of the year, even if the other two — Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts* earned around less than half what First Steps did.
Disney and Marvel are predicting a North American opening in the $100 million to $110 million range for Fantastic Four; ditto for overseas. Bt based on brisk advance ticket sales, strong reviews and glowing early audience scores, the all-star reboot could easily open higher.
Superman debuted to a successful $125 million domestically two weeks ago and $95 million overseas, where it came in slightly behind expectations due to the pro-American themes long tied to the comic-book character. Fantastic Four should have an upperhand over Superman overseas, considering that the previous films in the franchise made by 20th Century Fox did more of their business offshore.
The New York City-set First Steps, which is earning raves for its early 1960s retro-style, stars Pedro Pascal as scientific genius Reed Richards, who leads a space expedition with his wife, Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby), her brother, Johnny Storm (Joseph Quinn), and piloted by their good friend Ben Grimm (Ebon Moss-Bachrach). When their rocket ship encounters a cosmic storm, it altered their DNA, returning them to Earth with superpowers.
The new film picks up after the four have returned and have become become worldwide heroes. But there is no time to rest on their laurels. They must return to space when earth is visited by the Silver Surfer (Julia Garner), who warns that the planet is about to be destroyed by a cosmic entity named Galactus.
In terms of the box office, the hope is that Fantastic Four will play to both families and fanboys/fangirls alike, which should help combat lingering superhero fatigue at the box office. “The eponymous quartet may have superpowers, but they are also a family, struggling like most of us to handle the most daunting responsibilities life throws our way,” writes David Rooney in his THR reivew.