411 Box Office Report: Fantastic Four: First Steps Survives Drop, Beats Bad Guys 2 & Naked Gun

The Fantastic Four: First Steps took a bit of a fall in its second weekend but still came out on top. The MCU film brought in $40 million in its second weekend to claim the top spot at the box office again. That’s a 66% drop from last week’s opening, a heavier drop than that of Thunderbolts* (56%), Deadpool & Wolverine (54%) and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (48%) but better than Captain America: Brave New World (68%), The Marvels (78%) and Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania (70%).

There’s going to be a lot of digital ink spilled talking about this being a high drop – and make no mistake, it is. But it’s very much the nature of the beast for superhero films and has been for a while. There are a number of reasons for the front-loaded nature, but as you can see above this is a very middle-of-the-road type of fall for Marvel, if on the higher side of that middle. DC suffered the same sort of drops until Superman came along and (thus far at least) righted that studio’s ship.

None of that is to say this is what Marvel wanted. Again, this is a high drop regardless of context and more than the studio was hoping for. But the film is still in pretty good shape, standing at $198.4 million domestically and $368.7 million worldwide. That already has it ahead of Thunderbolts’ final domestic gross (and close to its $382.7 million worldwide take), with Brave New World about to be overtaken in both metrics as well. From where it stands, Fantastic Four should be looking at around $270 million or so in the US, enough to be considered a hit against a $200 million budget.

Coming in at #2 was The Bad Guys 2, which opened to $22.2 million. That’s slightly below the $24 million that the first film launched to in April of 2022, which is a pretty solid result considering that the first film had less competition. That’s more or less where analysts saw the film landing coming into the weekend.

The Bad Guys was a bit of a surprise hit for Sony when it launched, playing well throughout its domestic run which gave the studio good reason to put a sequel into development. The positive buzz for this film was evident in the week leading to its release with an 86% critic aggregate on Rotten Tomatoes. And audiences seem to quite like it with a 95% RT audience score and an A CinemaScore. All those numbers are right in step with the first film (88% RT with critics, 93% RT audience score, A CinemaScore).

All that said, this film shouldn’t be expected to have quite the same legs as the first film, which nearly hit $100 million domestically. Sequels are inherently more frontloaded, after all. But it should be able to do well enough to keep Universal happy. The film cost a touch more than the first at $80 million to the original’s $70 million; the key is how those international numbers come in. Right now, it has $22.3 million overseas for $44.5 million worldwide – not bad, but we’ll see how it legs out. The domestic total should end up around $80 million or so.

The Naked Gun has a moderately successful launch as it brought in $17 million, again about where it was expected to ($15 million) coming into the frame. The action-comedy had the second-best opening of the franchise, behind only The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear’s $20.8 million start all the way back in 1991.

But any comparison is apples and oranges because we’re in an entirely different film business than 34 years ago. More to the point, comedy is in a very different place at the box office than even the days of The Hangover franchise setting records in the early 2010s. Comedy is a risky proposition and Naked Gun outperformed other recent action comedies like Novacaine ($8.8 million start) and Love Hurts ($5.8 million).

Much like The Bad Guys 2, Naked Gun came in with positive reviews at a 90% RT critic aggregate. Audiences gave it an A- CinemaScore and a 77% RT audience rating. The budget for this one was moderate at $42 million, which might be slightly challenging for the film unless it holds well (which is very possible). It added $11.5 million overseas with a handful of big markets left to go for $28.5 million worldwide and should be able to get close to $45 million in the US. As long as it lands close to there domestically, it will be in good shape.

Superman had a solid hold in its fourth weekend as it brought in $13.9 million, down 44% from last weekend’s numbers. The DC Universe relaunch is officially a hit, having totaled $316.3 million domestically and $551.3 million worldwide against its $225 million budget. It has surpassed Man of Steel domestically and is looking at around close to $350 million in the US, more than enough to be considered a success.

Jurassic World Rebirth, slipped just 34% to $8.7 million in its fifth weekend. The sequel is now up to $317.6 million domestically and impressive $766 million worldwide, closing in on the $800 million mark quickly. It is on par for about $335 million or so in the US, a winner for Universal against a production budget of $180 million

NEON’s latest horror film arrived in Together which opened on Wednesday. The relationship-themed body horror film scored $6.8 million over the weekend to bring its totals to $10.9 million. That’s pretty much exactly what Ari Aster’s Midsommar did for A24 in early July of 2019.

Together has been an anticipated one for horror fans since it bowed at Sundance earlier this year and the buzz has been good, with a 91% RT critic aggregate and a 76% RT audience rating. The CinemaScore is a C+, which is about par for the course for all but the most crowd-pleasing horror films. For a $17 million-budgeted production, that’s pretty solid and it should be able to get to $28 million to $30 million in the US. No overseas numbers are in for this one yet.

F1: The Movie dropped 35% in its sixth weekend with $4.1 million. The Apple Original film has now reached $173.3 million in the US and $545.67 million worldwide against a $200 million budget, profitable for Apple and still taking aim at around $180 million or so in the US.

I Know What You Did Last Summer slipped 49% in its third weekend to take in $2.7 million. It is looking to be profitable for Sony Pictures with $29.3 million domestically and $58.7 million worldwide against an $18 million budget, with a likely $35 million-plus domestic total.

The Smurfs dove in its third weekend as it fell 69% to $1.8 million. The animated film was already in rough shape and this doesn’t help. It’s now at $28.5 million stateside and $89.7 million worldwide, and those foreign numbers don’t look likely to run high enough to cover the $58 million budget. Domestic should end around $33 million.

How To Train Your Dragon closed out the top 10 with $1.4 million, down 54$ in its eighth weekend. The live-action remake was a hit a while back already and is at $260.4 million domestically and $618.3 million worldwide against its $150 million budget. $265 million in the US is its endgame.

We’re likely to have a new film at #1 next weekend as newcomers Freakier Friday and Weapons vie for the top. The family revival sequel is leaning into around $35 million to $40 million, while Barbarians director Zach Cregger’s new horror film is looking at $30 million or so. Angel Studios’ Sketch is aiming at the mid-single digits.

BOX OFFICE TOP TEN (Three-Day Domestic Numbers)
1. The Fantastic Four: First Steps – $40 million ($198.4 million total, $368.7 million WW)
2. The Bad Guys 2 – $22.2 million ($22.2 million total, $44.5 million WW)
3. The Naked Gun – $17 million ($17 million total, $28.5 million WW)
4. Superman – $13.9 million ($316.2 million total, $551.2 million WW)
5. Jurassic World Rebirth – $8.7 million ($317.6 million total, $766 million WW)
6. Together – $6.8 million ($10.9 million total, $10.9 million WW)
7. F1: The Movie – $4.1 million ($173.3 million total, $545.6 million WW)
8. I Know What You Did Last Summer – $2.7 million ($29.4 million total, $58.8 million WW)
9. The Smurfs – $1.8 million ($28.5 million total, $89.7 million WW)
10. How To Train Your Dragon – $1.4 million ($260.4 million total, $618.3 million WW)