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CTV News
23 minutes ago
- CTV News
‘Fantastic Four: First Steps' scores Marvel's first $100 million box office opening of 2025
This image released by Disney shows Pedro Pascal in a scene from "The Fantastic Four: First Steps." (Marvel/Disney via AP) LOS ANGELES — Marvel's first family has finally found box office gold. 'The Fantastic Four: First Steps,' the first film about the superheroes made under the guidance of Kevin Feige and the Walt Disney Co., earned $118 million in its first weekend in 4,125 North American theaters, according to studio estimates Sunday. That makes it the fourth biggest opening of the year, behind 'A Minecraft Movie,' 'Lilo & Stitch' and 'Superman,' and the biggest Marvel opening since 'Deadpool & Wolverine' grossed $211 million out of the gate last summer. Internationally, 'Fantastic Four' made $100 million from 52 territories, adding up to a $218 million worldwide debut. The numbers were within the range the studio was expecting. The film arrived in the wake of another big superhero reboot, James Gunn's 'Superman,' which opened three weekends ago and has already crossed $500 million globally. That film, from the other main player in comic book films, DC Studios, took second place with $24.9 million domestically. 'First Steps' is the latest attempt at bringing the superhuman family to the big screen, following lackluster performances for other versions. The film, based on the original Marvel comics, is set during the 1960s in a retro-futuristic world led by the Fantastic Four, a family of astronauts-turned-superhuman from exposure to cosmic rays during a space mission. The family is made up of Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal), who can stretch his body to incredible lengths; Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby), who can render herself invisible; Johnny Storm (Joseph Quinn), who transforms into a fiery human torch; and Ben Grimm (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), who possesses tremendous superhuman strength with his stone-like flesh. The movie takes place four years after the family gained powers, during which Reed's inventions have transformed technology, and Sue's diplomacy has led to global peace. Both audiences and critics responded positively to the film, which currently has an 88% on Rotten Tomatoes and promising exit poll responses from opening weekend ticket buyers. An estimated 46 per cent of audiences chose to see it on premium screens, including IMAX and other large formats. The once towering Marvel is working to rebuild audience enthusiasm for its films and characters. Its two previous offerings this year did not reach the cosmic box office heights of 'Deadpool & Wolverine,' which made over $1.3 billion, or those of the 'Avengers'-era. But critically, the films have been on an upswing since the poorly reviewed 'Captain America: Brave New World,' which ultimately grossed $415 million worldwide. 'Thunderbolts,' which jumpstarted the summer movie season, was better received critically but financially is capping out at just over $382 million globally. Like Deadpool and Wolverine, the Fantastic Four characters had been under the banner of 20th Century Fox for years. The studio produced two critically loathed, but decently profitable attempts in the mid-2000s with future Captain America Chris Evans as the Human Torch. In 2015, it tried again (unsuccessfully) with Michael B. Jordan and Miles Teller. They got another chance after Disney's $71 billion acquisition of Fox's entertainment assets in 2019. Top 10 movies by domestic box office With final domestic figures being released Monday, this list factors in the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore: 1. 'The Fantastic Four: First Steps,' $118 million. 2. 'Superman,' $24.9 million. 3. 'Jurassic World Rebirth,' $13 million. 4. 'F1: The Movie,' $6.2 million. 5. 'Smurfs,' $5.4 million. 6. 'I Know What You Did Last Summer,' $5.1 million. 7. 'How to Train Your Dragon,' $2.8 million. 8. 'Eddington,' $1.7 million. 9. 'Saiyaara,' $1.3 million. 10. 'Oh, Hi!,' $1.1 million. Lindsey Bahr And Itzel Luna, The Associated Press
CBC
an hour ago
- CBC
Heat warning in effect in Hamilton, surrounding areas could feel like 39
A heat warning has been issued for Hamilton, Niagara, Burlington and surrounding areas from Sunday until Tuesday, according to Environment Canada. Monday is set to be the hottest in Hamilton with a high of 31 C, but it may feel more like 39 with the humidity factored in. "There is some uncertainty in the duration of the heat event for some regions ... Over some areas the heat event could persist into Wednesday," the weather agency said in its heat warning. Tuesday is expected to see a high of 31 C and a low of 20 C. Environment Canada recommends people check on those who are vulnerable, stay hydrated and watch out for symptoms of heat exhaustion. "Signs may include headache, nausea, dizziness, thirst, dark urine and intense fatigue," said the weather agency. It also suggests people close their blinds and open windows if it feels cooler outside than inside. Using a fan or air conditioner, limiting direct exposure to the sun, and wearing lightweight, light-coloured clothing also advised. The medical officer of health for the City of Hamilton initiated a heat warning starting Sunday. The city and some community agencies will open cooling areas for people to go to during the heat and humidity.
CBC
3 hours ago
- CBC
My baby nearly didn't survive her birth. Her presence has made me a grateful mom
This First Person article is the experience of Lauren Helstrom, who lives in Saskatoon with her daughter Evee. For more information about CBC's First Person stories, please see the FAQ. Right from the moment of her delivery, my daughter's life hung by a thread. I'd gone into labour 17 weeks before my due date, and something in my bones screamed danger. After getting admitted at the hospital, I was rushed onto a stretcher and wheeled through double doors, past people too afraid to meet my gaze. It felt like the room itself was holding its breath. I was supposed to say goodbye. A labour and delivery nurse kneeled beside me, gripped my hand and whispered, "I'm not leaving you." I didn't know how badly I needed those words until they reached me. Motherhood didn't begin the way I dreamed. But strangers in masks and gowns gave me the chance to be the mother I dreamed I could be. My daughter, Evee, was born at 23 weeks and four days gestation, weighing 561 grams — just the size of a bag of candy. She emerged still wrapped in her amniotic sac — skin like wet rose petals, lungs too tiny to rise and fall. She was silent. No heartbeat. Not breathing. But the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) team was there and ready, not to mourn, but to fight. A resident stepped in to resuscitate her. I will never forget his face — the tears in his eyes as he fought for her life with both hands. They brought her back. They saved her. They saved us both. A ghost of a mother The NICU was like another planet. Foreign. Unforgiving. Sacred. I wasn't handed my baby. I wasn't even allowed to touch her. She lay inside a glass box, her chest flickering with effort, tangled in wires and tubes. Machines surrounded her — blinking, hissing, screaming a language I didn't understand. I sat at her bedside, afraid to breathe too loud and overwhelmed by alarms that wouldn't stop. They pierced my eardrums and stabbed my heart. The first time I sang You Are My Sunshine, I didn't make it past the line, "Please don't take my sunshine away." I wept into my hands. Was I a mother? I couldn't cradle my baby or feed her. I needed permission just to place my fingertip on her paper-thin skin. I felt like a ghost of a mother. Invisible. Useless. Failing. I was haunted by the feeling: "You're saying goodbye." Evee spent 130 days in the NICU. She battled retinopathy of prematurity, chronic lung disease, seizures, an open duct in her heart and the worst yet — a grade 4 brain bleed and hydrocephalus. Through it all, the NICU staff were the hands that held me when I collapsed. And yet, within that grief, there was devotion. If you're a parent - you'll remember what it was like to be in a hospital delivery room. That memory is still fresh for Lauren Helstrom, whose daughter was born 17 weeks prematurely and spent the first months of her life at the neonatal intensive care unit in Saskatoon. Lauren has written a First Person piece for CBC on that experience, and shares her insights with host Shauna Powers. I changed her micro-sized diapers with trembling hands. I started to feel like her mother not in dramatic moments, but in small sacred ones — when she grasped my finger, or when a nurse said, "She knows your voice." When another NICU parent passed me in the hallway and gave a nod like we shared something unspoken. We were part of a club no one wanted to join. Even after we came home, we faced a new chapter filled with medical complexity, with several continued check-ups that continue for Evee today. And the shadows continued to visit. Post-traumatic stress after the NICU is not rare. It is real. It is silent. And it can destroy you if you carry it alone. The wounds don't close just because you've been discharged. But slowly, we've emerged from that dark time in NICU. My daughter didn't walk or talk until after the age of two. But once she started — she ran, she talked, she laughed. Now, at age three, Evee is vibrant and full of life. She dances barefoot in the kitchen and sings with her whole chest. She calls me "Mommy" like it's the most natural word in the world. I became a mother in a room where I once felt I had to say goodbye. I became a mother beside ventilators, signing forms, praying silently. I became a mother when I learned to hold hope and fear in the same breath. I became a mother the moment I refused to stop asking for help. I became a mother when I stayed by her side while others left the room. I became a mother when I looked at her — impossibly small, impossibly alive — and whispered: "Stay with me, my girl." And she did.
