Disney (and others) at the Box Office - Current State of Affairs

[Nevermore525]

Universal continues to be the most aggressive with pushing early PVOD access.

Warner equally aggressive: Superman reportedly hits PVOD August 26th. 46 days after release

 

[Tha Realest]

‘Fantastic Four: First Steps’ Continues Big Box Office Dive With 61% Drop

Disney and Marvel Studios’ "The Fantastic Four: First Steps" — which had a steep drop in business in its second Friday to Sunday frame — is continues its big box office dive in its third weekend in theaters.

www.forbes.com

 

[CoastalElite64]

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Weapons now estimated to open at $42.5 million ($70 million global), Freakier Friday $45 million global ($29 million domestic)

 

[Ghost93]

Weapons now estimated to open at $42.5 million ($70 million global), Freakier Friday $45 million global ($29 million domestic)

Very happy for Weapons. Freakier Friday's opening is respectable.

Personally I thought Freakier Friday was okay, not nearly as good as the 2003 film. Lindsay Lohan and Jaime Lee Curtis are great, but because the sequel involves a body swap with four characters instead of two, I think it gets too complicated for its own good. Sometimes simpler is better. Rather than playing Tess and Anna, Curtis and Lohan spend the bulk of the film playing the teenage girls, and those characters simply aren't as well defined.

That being said, I think it is still one of the better nostalgia cash grabs and I like that it wasn't a complete retread of the first movie. It did legitimately try to shake up the formula a bit, which is always preferable in my eyes.

 

[Baloo124]

Crazy bloody is not my jam, but spooky definitely is.

I'm the same way.

Not a fan of gross gore or jump scares. I want scary that sticks in the brain long after the movie is over.

 

[Disney Irish]

Just an FYI for what its worth.

Fantastic Four will officially cross $400M WW this weekend, and will likely move past Cap4 and possibly Shang-Chi next week. This puts it in the middle of the pack of all post-Endgame/post-pandemic MCU releases, only falling behind sequels with established characters.

So we'll see where it ends up when the final numbers are in, but so far one can see why Disney actually mentioned it as a success during the earnings call.

So F4 ended up passing Cap4 and Shang-Chi this weekend, WW total so far now sits at $434M.

The question is will it have enough gas to make it past $500M. Before this weekend I was leaning to no, but now after this weekend I might be leaning back the other way.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

- Jurassic World will pass $800 million worldwide tomorrow

- Lilo and Stitch is just $2.4 million from being the #1 domestic release of 2025, but has more or less finished its run

- Naked Gun dropped 50% in its second weekend, proving that comedies are still a hard sell even with good reviews

- Superman is now at $579 million worldwide. Unadjusted for inflation, it's now the highest grossing Superman movie at the domestic box office (passing the $330 million Batman v Superman made). If it were to make $375 million domestically, that would be 3x its opening weekend (likely won't, but that's a reference point illustrating how well its held). Man of Steel made $63.4 million in China in 2013, but I can't even find numbers for 2025's Superman in that country. UK and Australian box office numbers also lower compared to Man of Steel. Illustrating how certain foreign markets have pulled overall numbers down

- Fantastic Four is at $434 million worldwide. Box Office Mojo is calling $15.5 million for this weekend (60% drop). It's foreign numbers are worse than Superman. IMO If it has a 4th domestic weekend below $10 million then it will limp to $500 million worldwide and either fall just short of that, or do a little more, but not by much

The key difference between these two movies are a) Superman is doing very well in the USA for a Superman movie, with good weekend to weekend holds, while Fantastic Four is doing poorly for a major MCU title and having a very front-loaded box office run.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

So F4 ended up passing Cap4 and Shang-Chi this weekend, WW total so far now sits at $434M.

The question is will it have enough gas to make it past $500M. Before this weekend I was leaning to no, but now after this weekend I might be leaning back the other way.

It was a big drop, but it could have legs.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

So fantastic four crashed into the 3 week wall…and took the worst of it.

We can pronounce it now…mere Pennies remain

So that’s in the ballpark of $1.3 billion for marvel this year? Not bad.

Wait…for THREE of them?

What did love and thunder gross? $760?

People must love their D+, huh? (Wait…subs peaked and advertising is flat for the year?…well…whatever…)

Hmmm

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

It was a big drop, but it could have legs.

No…the legs didn’t sprout…you can’t have 67 and 60% drops and “pray for legs” in week 4.

Fantastic four did what it always does…which is shows limited wide appeal. Like the muppets.

 

[DKampy]

I was surprised to see FF got the premium screen treatment at my local theater… figured that would be Weapons… the former was on 2 screens…. The later 1….saw both… and both theaters felt equally busy locally

I enjoyed both… I was surprised how much I enjoyed Freakier Friday.,,,I was expecting straight to streaming fare…. Although to give credit where it is due… it was mostly thanks to Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan’s performance

 

[Disney Irish]

Jackie Chan of all people made some interesting comments this weekend -

Jackie Chan Says New Hollywood Movies Lack Quality Because Studios Focus Too Much On Money: “They’re Not Filmmakers, They’re Business Guys” — Locarno

Jackie Chan was speaking at the Locano Film Festival.

deadline.com

Interesting since this thread is so focused on money, and Jackie saying that Hollywood should be less focused on money.

 

[Agent H]

Okay I know this is old like super super old. But since people sometimes post stuff about upcoming movies I thought i would post this. https://deadline.com/2024/10/lego-n...an-dan-hageman-in-works-universal-1236163709/

 

[coffeefan]

So fantastic four crashed into the 3 week wall…and took the worst of it.

We can pronounce it now…mere Pennies remain

So that’s in the ballpark of $1.3 billion for marvel this year? Not bad.

Wait…for THREE of them?

What did love and thunder gross? $760?

People must love their D+, huh? (Wait…subs peaked and advertising is flat for the year?…well…whatever…)

Hmmm

Thor L&T was the 4th in a franchise. Compare it to Thor 1 and FF is not as bad as it's made out to be.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Thor L&T was the 4th in a franchise. Compare it to Thor 1 and FF is not as bad as it's made out to be.

Uh huh…

You definitely reset the dial for everytime they try again, huh?

Totally explains Captain marvel

 

[TP2000]

First pass at weekend box office. Freakier Friday did $29 Million domestically. Is that good? I honestly can't tell. Anyone know?

The Fantastic Four dropped a big 60% in its third weekend. It has very, very weak legs. I think we can chalk this up as another Burbank mega-budget tentpole that will NOT be used in any way to reimagine a New New Tomorrowland on either coast.

Because, you know, who in all of Burbank cares about park operating capacity in this modern era where you can get people to pay $20 per person for Lightning Lane on some new Tomorrowland E Ticket from an actually successful movie?

The Numbers - Weekend Box Office Chart for July 25, 2025

Weekend Domestic Box Office Chart for the weekend of July 25, 2025

thenumbers.com

 

[coffeefan]

Uh huh…

You definitely reset the dial for everytime they try again, huh?

Totally explains Captain marvel

Did you watch the movies? Because there's key context missing here.

 

[TP2000]

Fantastic Four having a 3rd weekend between $16-$18 million. Another not-so-good hold if it does drop 56%.

It continues to pace well behind Man of Steel which made $248 million after 17 days of release ($291 million total)

I know you posted that before the numbers were in, but it actually only got $15 Million and dropped an even 60% this weekend.

Oof.

It was a big drop, but it could have legs.

Nope, that ship sailed two weeks ago. The Fantastic Four has now fallen out of the entire Legs tracking cone. It's below having any legs at all. It's got no legs, and it won't be regrowing any legs anytime soon, either in a lab or in the wild. And it's overseas box office is even weaker than its domestic box office, which for mega-budget Marvel movies is not good. Foreigners dislike it more than Americans. And it's still got no legs.

The Fantastic Four, with it's production mega-budget of $225 Million and an assumed $100 Million for global marketing, is going to lose at least $100 Million for Burbank this fiscal year. But apparently it all gets made up in Disney+ subscriptions. Or something. I still can't get that to pencil out on my damp cocktail napkin.

But for now, at the actual box office? The Fantastic Four has no legs and will be a big money loser.

 

[Disney Irish]

I know you posted that before the numbers were in, but it actually only got $15 Million and dropped an even 60% this weekend.

Oof.



Nope, that ship sailed two weeks ago. The Fantastic Four has now fallen out of the entire Legs tracking cone. It's below having any legs at all. It's got no legs, and it won't be regrowing any legs anytime soon, either in a lab or in the wild. And it's overseas box office is even weaker than its domestic box office, which for mega-budget Marvel movies is not good. Foreigners dislike it more than Americans. And it's still got no legs.

The Fantastic Four, with it's production mega-budget of $225 Million and an assumed $100 Million for global marketing, is going to lose at least $100 Million for Burbank this fiscal year. But apparently it all gets made up in Disney+ subscriptions. Or something. I still can't get that to pencil out on my damp cocktail napkin.

But for now, at the actual box office? The Fantastic Four has no legs and will be a big money loser.

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For what it’s worth just to keep things honest, Fantastic Four’s budget is reported at $200M not $225M. So not sure where you got that number from but even your beloved Numbers site has it at $200M.

Which makes your “loss” calculation off, even if I don’t agree with how you’re doing it.