Acclaimed Horror Movie Projected To Beat Fantastic Four At Box Office This Weekend

After holding the No. 1 position at the box office for two straight weekends, The Fantastic Four: First Steps‘ reign at the top of the charts is coming to an end. According to Variety, the latest projections have Fantastic Four earning somewhere between $18-20 million domestically in its third weekend. Where it lands on that scale will depend on how well it holds. This weekend’s two high-profile new releases are expected to be in a close race to earn first place. Comedy sequel Freakier Friday is estimated to earn between $27-30 million in its debut.

The other major release this weekend is director Zach Cregger’s critically acclaimed horror movie Weapons. Variety notes it is projected to gross between $25-30 million over its first three days. The estimates for Freakier Friday and Weapons are too close to predict one over the other as a clear winner. Regardless of which one comes out on top, First Steps seems destined for third place.

After Cregger’s Barbarian put him on the map as a horror filmmaker to watch, Weapons is a highly anticipated title for moviegoers. The film’s generated buzz with its unsettling marketing campaign that reveals very little about the story but still sells audiences on the concept by highlighting the film’s creepy, disturbing tone and general premise. Early reactions have some calling Weapons “a masterpiece,” so it’s earned strong word of mouth ahead of its theatrical debut.

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Bolstered by positive reviews of its own, The Fantastic Four: First Steps exceeded box office expectations in its opening weekend, pulling $117.6 million domestically and around $216 million worldwide. Unfortunately, it did not have strong legs, suffering a steep second weekend drop-off of 67% domestically. Its performance highlights a harsh new reality for the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise in the post-pandemic era.

Nobody expected The Fantastic Four: First Steps to break box office records, but Marvel was probably hoping for a stronger turnout. Titles like Freakier Friday and Weapons are anticipated among their respective target demographics, but neither is on the scale of a big-budget comic book adaptation going after four quadrants. If Fantastic Four had held as well as Superman, then it might have been in position to retain the top spot throughout the first half of August. But in a sign of how much things have changed, it’s going to start sliding down the charts in just its third weekend.

This isn’t to say First Steps is going to go down as another Marvel box office disappointment this year. The strong opening means it’s only a matter of time before it leaps past Thunderbolts* and Captain America: Brave New World to become the MCU’s highest-grossing title of the year. It also isn’t going to bomb; it’s already recouped its “north of $200 million” production budget, meaning it will turn a profit by the time its time in theaters is over. Undoubtedly, Marvel and Disney would have loved if The Fantastic Four: First Steps topped the August competition, but they should be happy with this.