Marvel Studios has found success with the release of The Fantastic Four: First Steps this past weekend. The movie topped the box office this weekend, while earning the studio its best opening of the year with $117.6 million stateside, and a worldwide box office opening of $218 million. However, it wasn’t just Marvel Studios that Marvel Comics’ first family helped give a much-needed lift to. Flix Patrol reports that two of 20th Century Fox’s Fantastic Four movies surged on the Disney+ charts following the release of The Fantastic Four: First Steps into movie theaters: 2005’s Fantastic Four and its sequel, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.
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Fantastic Four appears at number nine on the Flix Patrol’s Top 10 Movies on Disney+ chart, which tracks streaming trends. Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer came in a bit higher at the seventh spot.
Some Fantastic Four Movies Saw a Boost on Disney+, But Not All
The 2015 Fantastic Four reboot is noticeably absent from the chart. The Josh Trank-directed film failed to find success at the box office and was panned by critics and fans alike upon its initial release. While there’s some nostalgia for the early 2000s Fantastic Four movies, the Trank-directed film’s reputation doesn’t appear to have improved in the decade since it was in theaters.
Disney+’s five-minute special look at The Fantastic Four: First Steps topped the Flix Patrol chart. That would seem to speak to the anticipation among fans for the new film’s release last week.
The first two Fantastic Four films were moderate successes for 20th Century Fox. Both films starred Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, Ioan Gruffudd, and Michael Chiklis as the Fantastic Four, with Julian McMahon as the villainous Doctor Doom. The movie earned $333.5 million on a reported budget of $100 million — not a huge hit, but it was enough to secure a sequel. Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer debuted two years later. It received a weaker box office response, earning $301.9 million worldwide.
Both of those films outperformed 2015’s Fantastic Four movie, which earned $167.8 million worldwide. Critically, it earned a disastrous 9% Rotten rating on Rotten Tomatoes. While the film features an all-star cast of young actors at the time, including Michael B. Jordan, Miles Teller, Kate Mara, and Jamie Bell, the reboot was criticized for lacking the humor, color, and joy that the Fantastic Four are known for in the comics. It shouldn’t be all too surprising that fans are not too keen to return to Trank’s Fantastic Four ahead of The Fantastic Four: First Steps.
Fans can currently stream all three of those past Fantastic Four movies on Disney+. They can also head to theaters to watch Marvel Studios’ The Fantastic Four: First Steps. The film stars Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm/Invisible Woman, Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm/The Thing, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm/Human Torch, Ralph Ineson as Galactus, and Julia Garner as Shalla-Bal/Silver Surfer. It was directed by WandaVision helmer Matt Shakman from a screenplay by Josh Friedman, Eric Pearson, Jeff Kaplan, and Ian Springer.
Marvel Comics’ first family is next set to appear in next year’s Avengers: Doomsday, which is slated to hit theaters on December 18, 2026.
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