Before Matt Shakman signed on to direct The Fantastic Four: First Steps, he was attached to helm Star Trek 4, which would have continued the adventures of the Kelvin Timeline crew introduced in J.J. Abrams’ 2009 reboot. Shakman was one of many directors who have tried their hand at Star Trek 4, a film that still has not come to fruition. After Shakman’s version fell into development hell, it opened the door for him to make the jump to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and oversee the Fantastic Four reboot. As Star Trek fans wait to see what the future holds for their favorite film franchise, The Fantastic Four has enjoyed a successful — if uneven — box office run that includes passing all of the Kelvin Timeline films on the all-time chart.
Videos by ComicBook.com
As of this writing (via Box Office Mojo), The Fantastic Four: First Steps has grossed $257.9 million domestically. That narrowly edges out the $257.7 million Star Trek earned back in the summer of 2009. Prior to this, First Steps had already out-grossed Star Trek Into Darkness ($228.7 million) and Star Trek Beyond ($158.8 million). All of these figures are unadjusted for inflation.
How Fantastic Four‘s Box Office Compares to Star Trek
The first Kelvin Timeline Star Trek film debuted at a fascinating time. The Marvel Cinematic Universe was still in its infancy, having only released Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk the summer prior. Disney was still three years away from acquiring Lucasfilm, and six years away from relaunching the Star Wars franchise (under Abrams’ direction, coincidentally). So Star Trek filled a void in the blockbuster marketplace in May 2009, offering a fun, fast-paced space adventure film. It’s still the highest-grossing Star Trek movie of all time domestically.
Star Trek had a much softer opening weekend when compared to The Fantastic Four: First Steps. It brought in $75.2 million in its debut, a far cry from First Steps‘ $117.6 million. Star Trek was able to clear $250+ million over its lifetime because of unusually strong legs. The film held very well in its subsequent weekends, a testament to the word of mouth surrounding the project. Star Trek dropped only 42.8% in its second weekend. In contrast, First Steps saw a steep decline of 67.1%. It was much more front-loaded than Star Trek, but the strong opening was enough to propel it to its current figure.
These two movies are close on the domestic chart, but there’s a bigger gap between their worldwide grosses. The Fantastic Four: First Steps was a greater draw internationally, as its global total currently stands at $491 million. Star Trek didn’t even reach $400 million worldwide, topping out at $385.6 million. Though Star Trek has endured as one of the most iconic sci-fi properties for decades, the franchise’s films have never lived up to the box office prowess of other brands like Marvel and Star Wars. That might be one of the reasons why Star Trek Beyond was the lowest-grossing offering of the Kelvin Timeline series; it debuted in the midst of the heydays of the MCU and the Star Wars revival and was overshadowed.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps wasn’t the resounding box office rebound Disney and Marvel were hoping for, but it’s still performed fairly well. It’s worth noting that the MCU’s other two releases this year, Captain America: Brave New World ($200.5 million) and Thunderbolts* ($190.2 million) didn’t come close to topping Star Trek‘s domestic total during their respective runs. It’ll be interesting to see how these franchises stack up against each other as Marvel gears up for the end of the Multiverse Saga and Paramount begins work on new Star Trek films.
Most Viewed
-
Image via THQ Nordic -
image courtesy of 20th Century Studios -
A closeup of a PlayStation 5 with a controller on top.
