The superheroes lead the box office array, but the newcomer family (well, the fourth iteration) lands with a solid $118 million domestic debut and $218 million globally. It only took four tries to get this family to a place of acceptance (even though some do have a cult following for the 2005 iteration), and finally, some numbers to showcase a sense of prowess. No, it just missed beating out the red and blue superhero and its $125 million domestic launch a few weekends ago, but this is still great news nonetheless.
Even for a potentially front-loaded weekend, this is the last big-budget, blockbuster film until Tron: Ares in October. Therefore, there is a considerable amount of wiggle room for this film and others to catch up over the remainder of the summer, leading up to kids heading back to school. The Fantastic Four: First Steps has already surpassed the domestic (and worldwide) total of the infamously dreaded 2015 take and will exceed the domestic totals of 2005’s and 2007’s Rise of the Silver Surfer by next weekend. It’s also the only one of them all to receive generally positive reviews (including an A- from CinemaScore). Oh, and it doesn’t predicate itself on past nostalgia to sell itself as a breakout take for this crew (not to knock on Spider-Man: Homecoming, as that had the added backing of Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man in the background and some key players from previous installments, and Tom Holland scored big points in his debut in Civil War a year prior). Additionally, there is a movement to argue that this can be viewed as a redemption tale, akin to those of Superman and Deadpool. Where it will fall overall in terms of profitability depends on how much it tanks in its second weekend (which is prone for MCU films that release in the later summer), but if it can do anything better than mediocre Captain America: Brave New World and well-received Thunderbolts*, then we might have more graces coming our way for Avengers: Doomsday.
In other news, the DC leading hero has passed $500 million worldwide thanks to a $24.86 million domestic third weekend. It’s a decent hold for a weekend stiff-armed by another superhero clan in town while certain dinosaurs and Brad Pitt lead in with their own flair. It will surpass the domestic total of Man of Steel by tomorrow morning and is likely to end its run with a global total of around $650 million when it wraps up. An acceptable start for another reboot of the most powerful man on Earth. Yours indeed is curious to note how it will spike in PVOD viewership alongside the second season of Peacemaker, which will have direct ties (maybe Peacemaker and Eagly will team up with Superman and Krypto someday?).
Jurassic World: Rebirth took $13 million in its fourth weekend and has passed $300 million domestically. It has passed $718 million globally, and should wrap up its run around $800 million, proving that dinosaurs still kick butt in the theater and the Jurassic Park/World IP still has major value for audiences and families alike. F1: The Movie recently surpassed $500 million worldwide, showcasing raw power for an original film. With its success, it has surpassed Dwayne Johnson’s San Andreas, making it the highest-earning original Hollywood film since Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar. How to Train Your Dragon passed $600 million worldwide this weekend, which means if it passes $621.5 million, it’ll become the highest-earning entry in the series thus far.
Smurfs hasn’t played to its predecessor’s strengths, and will pass $70 million worldwide by the end of this sentence. I Know What You Did Last Summer took in $5.1 million in its second weekend, bringing its domestic total to $23.5 million. This is what you can only hope for when it comes to these kinds of budgets, but not recognizing that those days of nostalgia are over.
Next weekend sees the release of The Bad Guys 2, The Naked Gun, She Rides Shotgun, and Trouble Man.
