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Forbes
13 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Forbes
‘Fantastic Four' Underwhelms, ‘Superman' Soars Higher At Box Office
Marvel Studios' summer tentpole The Fantastic Four: First Steps underwhelmed this weekend with just $118 million domestic and $100 million internationally, slightly ahead of what were frankly conservative estimates but realistically behind potential for such a major MCU release. Meanwhile, DC Studios' Superman soars higher at the box office past $500 million, after previously opening higher than Fantastic Four. Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Joseph Quinn star in "The Fantastic Four: First Steps." Fantastic Four Misses A Step In a surprise turnabout, it was Superman eating into The Fantastic Four: First Steps' weekend gross, rather than Marvel's summer tentpole acting as a speed bump for DC's cinematic reboot. Superman went from a trajectory toward $550 million to suddenly staring confidently at $600 million or more, if last weekend's upset moral victory is a sign of things to come. It's not a disaster, by any stretch (sorry, pun kind of intended), but a $218 million global bow for Marvel's biggest film of the year is not the champaign-popping result they wanted. Especially not after the previous two MCU releases this year underperformed. Fantastic Four debuting to less than Superman is a bad sign for the MCU in more ways than merely this film's own box office prospects. Marvel 'First Family' is meant to set up the two-part Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars payoff, as well as setting the foundations for a soft reboot of the MCU (with X-Men serving as the other major players in laying the new groundwork). The Fantastic Four: First Steps did come in more than 10% ahead of Superman internationally, and the MCU tends to enjoy good overseas holds. However, overall lower opening weekend global sales combined with the fact Superman is holding far better than expected (particularly with families and younger viewers compared to Fantastic Four's alarming drops among those demographics), means we have to wait to see whether First Steps can match the Man of Steel's stamina. Right now, it appears Superman could wind up flying as high as $630 million, or as low as $590 million, but most likely somewhere north of $600 million at this point. The Fantastic Four: First Steps, on the other hand, might now have the more modest trajectory once anticipated for Superman. There's still a broad range of outcomes, however, because the A- Cinemascore and great 87% 'Certified Fresh" rating from critics via Rotten Tomatoes mean strong positive word-of-mouth just like Superman enjoyed, except Fantastic Four's numbers are actually a bit higher. Which usually spells good news for second and third weekend holds, particularly internationally – again, where the MCU gets most of its money. If Fantastic Four can build upon its lead with foreign audiences and make up lost ground there, it could allow the Marvel film to exceed Superman's international holds (which are still good, make no mistake, but still significantly weaker than domestic) and wind up making more worldwide despite a potentially (probably, to be frank) lower domestic haul than DC Studio's successful superhero revival. Fantastic Four And Family Films My guess is that what we're seeing is part of a much broader trend that's taking place, and it's displacing a lot of previously chart-topping genres and franchises. And it isn't a major surprise, if you follow annual box office charts much. So far this year, the top of the worldwide box office charts is dominated by family movies targeted heavily toward children and parents. China's Ne Zha II purportedly at the very top with $1.9 billion, followed by Lilo & Stitch with a huge $1 billion, A Minecraft Movie at $955 million, Jurassic World: Rebirth with $718 million to date, How to Train Your Dragon at $606 million so far, and then some adult-appealing Mission Impossible - The Final Reckoning closing out at about $595 million and F1 currently at $510 million and still going strong. Only then, at the bottom of the top 10, do we finally see Superman's $503 million gross (so far), Captain America: Brave New World at $415 million, and Thunderbolts with just $382 million. Now, these placements will change eventually, as other upcoming films inevitably bump some of these films from the top 10 box office charts. More important for the moment is that Jurassic World will remain in third place for a while, after it hits roughly $850 million. How to Train Your Dragon and Superman will face off over who has the highest $600+ grand total, with a near-tie possible. The Fantastic Four: First Steps will wind up somewhere in high-$500 millions or the $600 millions. F1 will race its way toward $575 million to perhaps even $600 million Likewise, Zootopia 2 and Avatar: Fire & Ash are both going to wind up high on the top-10 list by the end of the year, with Avatar 3 at the very top and Zootopia 2 almost surely among the top-5. So the final year-end chart will probably look something like this: Notice the top seven spots are dominated by child-leaning family movies, and the two that aren't (Avatar 3 and Jurassic World) are still popular with kids and teens as well as parents. F1 at the bottom is the only true adult drama entry on the list, the other nine being multi-demographic films with large or predominant family attendance, as well as big youth turnout overall. Superheroes are now mostly relegated to second-tier box office status and the bottom of the top-10. And even those impressive numbers for Jurassic World tell another story. Jurassic World: Rebirth is still in the weekend top-three and stomping its way toward maybe $850 million despite lousy audience grades and weak reviews. That's a big number, but it's also a huge comedown from the billion-plus box office of the preceding three chapters in the franchise. Meanwhile, the live-action adaptation of How to Train Your Dragon looks to finish around $625, which is higher than I personally expected (I figured between $500-600 million), and should become the highest grossing entry in the entire franchise, topping its animated predecessors. And of course, both Lilo & Stitch and Minecraft overperformed and are in the elite tier of the year-end box office. Ne Zha II is a whole special story, having made the bulk of its enormous gross in China, and I always have questions about how (*ahem*) accurate the accounting is. That said, it's still clearly a big hit and will get a North American release later this year, so we'll see how that goes. But regardless, it's another example of rekindled surging power of family entertainment at the top of box office charts. While family movies have always been popular and typically pepper the annual box office top-10, superhero cinema and certain other recurring tentpole franchises usually take several of the top-5 and tend to reside in the higher positions of the charts. But aside from rare billion dollar grossers like last year's Deadpool & Wolverine, superhero movies are settling into a lower tier at the box office, in the 'new normal' that sees viewers pickier about what they spend their dollars on, favoring family entertainment and looking for unique adaptations of familiar franchises. With so many superhero films and streaming series, not to mention plenty of animated superhero films and shows as well, parents and families are far less obliged to hit the multiplex for most of these pictures. Instead, they choose to watch them at home later, and reserve their theater seats for those predominantly kid-friendly family films. Unless a superhero film offers something really extra that makes it must-see, or unless it nails the appeal to families with young kids, those crucial family and youth demographics aren't as interested in keeping up in theaters. Binging on the shared-world ahead of major crossovers is easier and more appealing, it seems, and helps more easily work in viewings of the streaming shows. Fantastic Four And Marvel's Future That Marvel can't sustain the mind-boggling levels of success they enjoyed through their Infinity Saga isn't surprising, nor is it a sign of failure on their part. What Marvel is, and what it represents, has evolved and changed now. Marvel is at the 'what now?' point. Conversely, DC Studios has captured audiences' attention by stepping into that place the MCU once occupied with a fresh, fun new world being introduced, and it invites all ages to the party while everybody experiences it for the first time together. Marvel is now setting up their own soft reboot of sorts, but will audiences buy into it? They did with the DCEU's final dying gasps giving way to the newly introduced DCU in Superman, so maybe despite some underperformance for the MCU ahead of their own reset, they could enjoy some boost from the Avengers sequels coming up (although danger of underperforming always exists) and then introduce a whole new MCU that rekindles the sense of newness and joy. But even if both the DCU and MCU experience a new love affair with audiences, I suspect it will still never reach the heights of the Infinity Saga's recurring billion dollar franchise sequels and $2+ billion Avengers 'event' releases. Successful sustainable superhero cinematic universes will probably financially look more like Marvel's Phase One and Phase Two, or DCEU's first set of movies (Man of Steel, Batman v Superman, Suicide Squad, Wonder Woman, Justice League), where only the Avengers or major sequels/team-ups score $1 billion and the rest fall in the $500-700 million range. That means budgets will have to get under control, and there will be less releases each year, while streaming spinoffs become more attractive less 'tested' characters. If James Gunn and Peter Safran can guide DC Studios toward tweaking their approach in Superman but otherwise delivering on the potential to give audiences what they experienced with the original MCU build-up and payoff, then they'll be rewarded with solid success that might not quite achieve the Infinity Saga's heights, but will still be enormously successful and popular. And I'm going to say something controversial to some, but here it goes: the more Gunn and Safran make sure the rest of the DCU movies maintain the same appeal to families and kids, the more successful it will be. Dogs? Humor? All-ages fun? Yes, all around. I know everybody wants some idealized world where each franchise director is given exclusive visionary control and every film can be its own thing, but I'm talking about a different level of success that builds a whole DC world around an inclusive 'all fans welcome' approach and pointedly wants to create young fans who will remain fans for decades to come. I agree that a grounded Batman can coexist with a fantastical Superman, but that's easier in the comics than in live action cinema, and crucially there is a difference between what comic book fans' cultural expectations are compared to the much larger mainstream global film audience who are fans of these superheroes. Folks showing up to the Marvel movies responded the way they did because it all was within a shared world and it felt like it. Audiences bring those expectations and subconscious assumptions or judgments with them into the cinema, and it matters for their sense of buy-in. This has become more obvious as we've seen the differences between Marvel's and DC's successes and failures over the years. Superman had an aesthetic and sensibility, as well as tonal balance and sense of humor, that works for superhero movies meant for all audience members. It feels very similar to Sam Raimi's Spider-Man and Spider-Man II, and most of all the director's Doctor Strange In the Multiverse of Madness. We all remember how successful those films were, and I think leaning into that for the overall DC world works extremely well if the family audience appeal is front and center. It's actually not dissimilar to the aesthetics of Zack Snyder's Watchmen movie, which I long said would be an excellent aesthetic template (minus the graphic violence, sex, and profanity) for adapting the DC universe to film in a shared world. Perhaps leaning into Superman's family-friendly aspects most of the time, and allowing for leaning more toward Watchmen for the slightly 'edgier' or darker films like Brave and the Bold (might it eventually be retitled Batman and Robin?), but even that film could use the grittier tone while tilting back the other way by having Robin/Damian as the main character instead of Batman/Bruce. For Marvel, and for The Fantastic Four: First Steps, the evolved aesthetic approach is an interesting introduction to what the potential future of the MCU might look like, with a world growing out of Fantastic Four's history merged with the existence of Mutants and X-Men. It makes sense that when previous superheroes like Iron Man, Captain America, and others are rebooted with new actors, it will happen in a new world with new aesthetic changes to avoid repetition and to allow entirely new approaches and inspirations. At least, I hope that happens, but it depends a lot on the success of Fantastic Four, and on the success of Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars. Let's find out how Fantastic Four: First Steps does through the weekdays as word-of-mouth spreads, and then how strongly it holds – I'm especially interested in what those international figures tell us over the next seven days, because that's where we'll get the best glimpse of Fantastic Four's box office future, and what it might mean for the rest of the MCU's plans. Superman's own numbers will separately tell us whether it's headed for the lower end or higher end of those $600+ expectations.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Natasha Lyonne talks flirting with the Thing in 'Fantastic Four': 'It's kinky'
The actress reveals things aren't that serious between her and Ben Grimm, adding, "I'm also seeing four other rocks, you should know, at this time." Natasha Lyonne says flirting with Ben Grimm/the Thing in Fantastic Four: The First Steps was anything but a rocky experience. The actress, who stars as the Thing's love interest Rachel Rozman in the Marvel film, tells Entertainment Weekly that sparks were genuinely flying between her and Ebon Moss-Bachrach's craggy character. 'Oh gosh. Really kinda wild,' Lyonne confesses of flirting with the solid superhero while visiting Entertainment Weekly's video studio for The Bad Guys 2. 'Ebon and I have known each other for a long time, but, well, it's kinky. I'll be honest.' She continues, "Yes. Super specific. But I just love him so much, I mean, he's such a good actor. We've known each other for a very long time, too, so it was very special to be a part of that."Rachel, a schoolteacher, and Ben, a cosmically altered rockman, have their own mini meet-cute in The First Steps when she encounters him playing with one of her students. Despite the pair hitting it off, Ben keeps his distance from Rachel out of fear of being rejected, but ultimately seeks her out at a local synagogue in the end. Lyonne, however, insists that the pair isn't that serious. "By the way, I'm also seeing four other rocks, you should know, at this time," she teases. "I won't name names." But, before anyone gets any ideas, Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson is not one of them. "Not the Rock!" she quickly clarifies. "I'm so sorry, I just don't want it to get tangled up." There may still be hope for Rachel and Ben's blooming romance — after all, the Fantastic Four are set to appear in Avengers: Doomsday, and if First Steps taught us anything, it's that the end of the world has a way of bringing people together. Check out more of . Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly Solve the daily Crossword
Forbes
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Review: ‘Fantastic Four' Super-Powers To $230 Million Opening Weekend
Director Matt Shakman's Fantastic Four: First Steps is super-powering to a strong $230 million worldwide opening weekend. Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Vanessa Kirby, Pedro Pascal, and Joseph Quinn star in "Fantastic Four." Fantastic Four By The Numbers With an A- Cinemascore from audiences and an 88% 'Certified Fresh' score from critics via Rotten Tomatoes, Fantastic Four: First Steps has all the signs of a winning MCU summer tentpole. Stateside, Fantastic Four is on course for $125 million and perhaps higher, if the positive word of mouth and high "recommend" scores from audiences drives up attendance. Like Superman, this MCU franchise's first flight will benefit tremendously from family business if that A- Cinemascore is any indication (and it is, of course). International markets are turning out bigger for Fantastic Four than they did for Superman, with that Marvel brand flexing it's box office super-power to lift Fantastic Four to $110 million or more. All told, Fantastic Four: First Steps is eyeing a roughly $230 million worldwide debut. That's enough to mostly guarantee a final cume north of $500 million, with potential toward as much as $720 million. It all depends on whether second-weekend holds signal a likely higher final multiplier of perhaps 3x, or a low-end $550 million total. Superman for comparison had a good sophomore outing and only modest drops, which bodes well for audiences' appetite for superhero cinema. A 2.6x final multiplier is more likely from what I'm seeing this weekend, which would leave Fantastic Four with a global grand total past $600 million, probably around $610-620 million. That assumes these opening weekend numbers come in where expected. With chances of overperformance similar to Superman's ability to defy each revised estimate domestically during its own freshman weekend, Fantastic Four: First Steps might wind up with better holds from Friday through Sunday as those great word-of-mouth and 'recommend' scores do their magic to bring in more families. Here's the truth: like Superman, there's a lot of leeway for how things can swing for Fantastic Four. It's not impossible that the overseas rollout sees a surge as positive buzz spreads. This is particularly important for premium theaters such as IMAX, Dolby Cinema, ScreenX, 4DX, and others, which are not only rising in audience preference domestically but also drive a large portion of international business. Indeed, premium screens have played a significant role in Jurassic World: Rebirth's giant-sized opening and excellent holds despite 'meh' audience word of mouth and mixed critical reviews. Likewise, 3D is an important part of foreign theatrical revenue, despite the (false) impression it was a fad that died off, and premium theaters are where the 3D up-sale is most important. With inflation still hurting a lot of average people's pocketbooks and so much other entertainment climbing in price, movie theaters still represent a relatively cheaper alternative for a family night out or date nights. Which makes those premium seats and 3D viewings more attractive as options as well, relative to pricier entertainment alternatives. Problem is, there simply aren't enough premium theaters to meet demand, so audiences are often waiting days to go see a new film simply to be sure of securing the best seats at a premium auditorium. This trend suppresses opening weekends, while allowing stronger holds into second and third weekends. But crucially, those opening numbers are part of driving word-of-mouth and media coverage that can boost attendance and provide longer legs at the box office. Bottom line is, more premium theaters means more business at higher prices, which is good for multiplexes and studios, while costing the average moviegoer just two or three extra bucks – and most people only see three movies a year in theaters anymore, four at most, so the total annual price inflation is only around $10. That's a small price to pay for the benefits of those premium seats for these blockbuster tentpoles, especially when scale matters, as it does for films like Fantastic Four: First Steps. Fantastic Four And IMAX Which all brings me to my review of Fantastic Four: First Steps, and if you've read my reviews before then you know the venue in which I watch movies matters a lot. I prefer those premium seats by a wide margin, so I always try to explain to you as potential moviegoers why certain viewing experiences will improve your sense of awe and enjoyment, and why it's worth a couple of extra dollars for that. Nowadays in the Covid era, most people have reduced their theatrical attendance after several years getting used to watching more films and streaming at home on ever-larger 4K UHD televisions. I personally have a 75-inch tv for our regular living room viewing, and a regular movie screen and seats in my basement with a 4K laser projector and Dolby Atmos sound system, so that makes it even more important for me to secure seats at premium theaters when I go to the multiplex – I need something that's better than what I've already got in my average movie theater at home. So it is that I attended Fantastic Four at the grand opening of a brand new IMAX at the MJR theater in Troy, Michigan. MJR is a Michigan theater chain, and this weekend they opened the largest laser IMAX theater in the state. Troy's Mayor Ethan Barker even turned out for a ribbon-cutting to officially open the theater. With theatrical business struggling to recover to pre-Covid levels amid increasing competition for audiences' attention, the standout performance by premium theaters in the larger context of audience preferences for blockbuster tentpoles with high family appeal makes a new and biggest-in-state IMAX for the region a big deal, and likely to benefit the restaurants, bars, cafes, and parks in the busy area. So this was a particularly good reminder for me of how much the movie business and our shared desire for good entertainment reaches from Hollywood into our own towns and economies. The new screen was indeed huge, not the smaller version of IMAX you tend to get elsewhere, and the laser projection is of course spectacular. Likewise the audio, which is the best I've heard in IMAX. For a film like Fantastic Four: First Steps, you definitely want the full scale and scope, trust me, and I sat as close as possible so when Galactus showed up… well, but I'm getting ahead of myself. Last thing I want to mention is that the film runs only two hours, so there's no danger of putting your poor bladder through a stress-test or developing sciatica by the third act, but the new IMAX also sported 'anti-gravity' seats of the leather recliner variety. Temperature settings and cushions like floating on air are included, so I could've even handled one of those three-hour stress-test movies here. And I can't deny there was an added pleasure in knowing I was the first person to ever sit in that seat, or to watch a movie on that screen. I do still love theaters, after all (enough to build one in my own house), and I'm always happy to welcome a new one into the world. Fantastic Four Review Marvel and the late great Stan Lee launched their modern superhero world on the pages of The Fantastic Four issue #1 in 1961. Then, 57 years later, Marvel Studios released the films The Incredible Hulk and Iron Man in 2008, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) was born. Today, after 17 years and 36 previous films, the MCU has finally released its own version of that very first Marvel comic book superhero team. To be sure, there were three earlier attempts at adapting the Fantastic Four to the big screen. Well, four, if you count the 1994 production by Roger Corman, made only so the producers at the time could avoid losing rights to the property, but that film was never formally released and intentionally hidden away. 2005's Fantastic Four from 20th Century Fox was a bigger-budgeted production that scored a solid $333 million worldwide despite bad reviews and weak Cinemascore of B from audiences. The film is honestly not as bad as its reputation, and features pretty accurate characterizations in a story and production very faithful to the comics. Its 2007 sequel Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer likewise did decent box office, albeit a decline to $301 million and with worse reviews from critics. Audience graded it about the same as its predecessor, though, and although it once again was overall faithful to the comics and continued the nice characterizations, Galactus was turned into a big cloud and severely underwhelmed on screen in a disappointing climax. A reboot attempt in 2015 titled Fantastic Four had an even bigger budget and went for a 'gritty' approach that resulted in the worst reviews of the franchise yet, and a box office flop to the tune of a paltry $168 million. It killed Fox's future plans for the franchise, and then Disney's purchase of Fox brought the super-team into Marvel Studios' hands. Finally. Finally! The results are just about everything fans and audiences could've hoped for, despite not getting an origin story or even origin sequence. Although this could mean they go back and show the origin in one of the upcoming films, and do something akin to the film Gravity's spectacular photo-realistic portrayal of the shuttle or ISS destruction sequences. Doing an origin segment later feels like a cool approach, too, maybe one of them has nightmares about it after upcoming events in the Avengers films, or they recall the story to other heroes they meet in those films. Regardless, Fantastic Four: First Steps doesn't miss the origin much, as we do get an opening sort of montage within montage to establish their backstory (the origin sequence itself, however, isn't shown on screen) and set up their unique standalone world in which they are the first and only superheroes who seem to exist on Earth. Or rather, on this particular Earth, since it's a different world than the one(s) we've seen in the MCU so far. The retro-futurism style and technology approach is wonderfully reflective of the early 1960s comic books, and allows a unique visual feel for Fantastic Four that makes it different from anything we've seen in Marvel movies, lovely pop-art production values and brilliant colors. I also applaud the choice to approach Fantastic Four as very much a sci-fi family adventure film with the most realistic visual effects of the MCU to date. There's something about the 1960s cultural aesthetics and hyper-realism to the sci-fi and action sequences that reminds me of the movie The Right Stuff crossed with a heavy dash of Interstellar and an aesthetic sprinkling of the streaming series Fallout. Which is to say, it looks gorgeous and thrilling, among the best-looking Marvel releases like Avengers: Infinity War, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Doctor Strange. As the starting point for the MCU soft-reboot that continues into Avengers: Doomsday and culminates in Avengers: Secret Wars, it was the right choice to establish some visual tonal guardrails that signal the dawn of a new era is beginning. And oh what a fabulous beginning it is. Fantastic Four: First Steps stars Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm aka the Thing, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm aka the Invisible Woman, Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards aka Mister Fantastic, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm aka the Human Torch, and Matthew Wood as the voice of H.E.R.B.I.E. the robot. Julia Garner portrays the villainous herald the Silver Surfer, and Ralph Ineson is the world-eating giant Galactus. We all did our own fancasting ahead of this film's announcements, but whatever any of us speculated or hoped for, the cast of Fantastic Four: First Steps nails it. The family dynamics and most of their interactions land perfectly, and as usual Johnny and Ben provide much heart and laughs with their back-and-forth teasing. I will quibble about some choices here or there, such as my preference for Ben to harbor a grudge against Reed (although there's room for that to manifest differently in coming films) or my feeling that Reed's fears and uncertainties are so important to his arc that we don't get much time to see him as his more typical self-assuredness about his intelligence and the team's status (it's precisely those attributes that lead him to harbor such fear and doubt once the big threat arrives, because he questions everything he believed). But we've also seen those things in three prior movies, there's room to introduce them or accentuate them later, and what Fantastic Four chooses to do works for the story and is rooted in certain source material in the comics. So, it's the first time in a long while that a Marvel movie lacks any notable complaints or things that hamper its successful storytelling and ability to remind us why we love the MCU. I am avoiding saying too much about the story, but I have to note that Fantastic Four also achieves a sense of Galactus' massive physical presence, the terror of what it's like to look up from the sidewalk and witness such a monstrosity stomping through Manhattan, and it reminded me of the way Godzilla: Minus One achieved a similar mind-blowing sense of scale and awe. Fantastic Four: First Steps is the best MCU movie in years, and will reward multiple viewings. See it on the biggest screen you can find, you will not be disappointed. If this is the future of Marvel, the future is very bright.
Reuters
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Reuters
‘Fantastic Four' film feels like a beginning for Marvel's first family
LOS ANGELES, July 23 (Reuters) - For actor Ebon Moss-Bachrach, the superhero film 'Fantastic Four: First Steps' is different from other Marvel films because it is centered on a close-knit family. 'Our movie is about a family that's been a family for many years, and they undergo this transformation together, which brings them even closer,' said Moss-Bachrach, who plays the character made of rocks named The Thing. 'The Bear' actor added that love is at the heart of the movie, especially when it comes to being in a 'precarious situation' as 'the custodians of the world.' Echoing this, Pedro Pascal, who plays the super stretchy scientist Reed Richards, feels like the cast is like a family. 'We're in our family and kind of holding hands together, waiting for the movie to be released into the world,' he said. Disney's "Fantastic Four: First Steps" introduces Marvel's first family as they face the cosmic threat of Galactus, an intergalactic planet eater, in a futuristic 1960s-inspired world. Joining Moss-Bachrach and Pascal are cast members Vanessa Kirby, who plays Reed's wife with invisibility powers named Sue Storm, and Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm, who has fire powers. 'Fantastic Four: First Steps,' which scored a positive 87% on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, arrives in theaters on Thursday. 'True to its subtitle, the film feels like a fresh start,' Peter Debruge of Variety wrote in a review. Pascal feels the key to stepping into his popular roles in projects like 'Game of Thrones,' 'The Mandalorian' and 'The Last of Us' has been studying the content. 'I love paying attention to the legacy of characters and the legacy of material that you're stepping into. I love being a part of an adaptation or something that has previous authorship, because it helps me,' he said. Daniel Loria, senior vice president at Boxoffice predicts that 'Fantastic Four: First Steps' will open domestically at $115 to $135 million. While sales are currently around $115 to $125 million, he noted an increase in ticket purchases over the last week that will likely draw closer to the $115 to $135 million range. For director Matt Shakman, the film is a celebration of firsts in several different ways. 'The DNA of the 'Fantastic Four' is the space race. So, first steps is an obvious reference to Neil Armstrong, and one small step for mankind,' he said. 'But it's also baby first steps, you know. So, the idea of what having a baby will do to a family and changing a family. Also, about first steps for Marvel's first family in the MCU, bringing them into the MCU for the first time,' he added.
Gizmodo
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Gizmodo
‘Marvel Rivals' Will Let You Recreate the ‘Fantastic Four: First Steps' Dive Bomb
Ask anyone what the Thing's catchphrase is, and, almost certainly, everyone will simultaneously say, 'It's clobbering time!' That's just been a fact of the character for years. And, in the new movie Fantastic Four: First Steps, it's also the case, but with a little twist. A twist that's coming to the video game Marvel Rivals in a kind of unprecedented synergy of gameplay and movie promotion. As seen in a recent trailer for First Steps, 'It's clobbering time!' is the in-universe catchphrase of the Thing's cartoon character, but not the actual character played by Ebon Moss-Bachrach. In fact, he doesn't like to say it at all, so his friends, especially Johnny Storm (Joseph Quinn), joke with him about it all the time. That interaction from the movie has now been almost directly ported into the game, as seen in this new footage, as part of a new team-up ability between Human Torch and the Thing. Things are heating up! Introducing a brand-new Team-Up Ability: Human Torch & The Thing! Lift, slam, and disable with "First Steps" – launching July 24 UTC! Buckle up, hot shot. Time to take flight… and land with impact. 💥 — Marvel Rivals (@MarvelRivals) July 22, 2025 In Rivals, special 'team up' abilities unlock between certain characters when you have those characters on your roster. They're usually added to the game at the start or midway points of its competitive seasons, tweaking the balance of the current roster of heroes and encouraging new combos on your teams. For example, recently with the launch of season three, Jean Grey and Wolverine unlocked a particularly powerful team-up that turned Logan's regular leap attack into a flaming, life-draining character-shredder so overtuned it had to get hit with the nerf bat. But the new Torch/Thing team-up, literally called 'First Steps,' in addition to being a big offensive move—letting Johnny carry Ben through the air before he dives down for a disabling area-of-effect slam—isn't just a bonus to your game. It's basically a promo for the movie. It's the first time Rivals has done something like this to tie into a big new movie rather than just adding new cosmetics, a nifty wink to anyone who has seen the movie or for gamers who'll see the movie later. Maybe it's even a connection that could drive people from one medium to the other. Having seen the movie, I won't spoil whether or not Ben Grimm does eventually say 'It's clobberin' time!' as Johnny begs him to mid-dive bomb. But in Rivals, of course, the Thing says it all the time, whenever he announces his powerful ultimate move. It's not the only First Steps promo going on in Rivals this week, which will also see movie costume skins for all four members of the Fantastic Four added later this week, which you can read more about here. So, if you want to take that Fantastic Four experience to the next level, grab Marvel Rivals for your PC or console and check out the movie in theaters Friday. We liked it quite a bit.
