Fantastic Four Just Passed One of the Best Sci-Fi Reboots At the Box Office

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Previously, Matt Shakman was intended to direct “Star Trek 4”, following the storyline of the crew from the Kelvin Timeline introduced in J.J. Abrams’ 2009 reboot. However, his project didn’t materialize, as he faced challenges similar to other directors who attempted to bring “Star Trek 4” to life. Subsequently, Shakman seized the opportunity to step into the Marvel Cinematic Universe and take charge of the “Fantastic Four” reboot. While fans of Star Trek are still hopeful about their series’ future, “The Fantastic Four” has garnered a mixed yet successful response at the box office, surpassing all Kelvin Timeline films in terms of total earnings.

At the moment, according to Box Office Mojo, the film “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” has accumulated a domestic box office total of $257.9 million. This figure just barely surpasses the $257.7 million that “Star Trek” made during the summer of 2009. Notably, “First Steps” had previously outperformed both “Star Trek Into Darkness” ($228.7 million) and “Star Trek Beyond” ($158.8 million). These figures do not account for inflation adjustments.

How Fantastic Four‘s Box Office Compares to Star Trek

The first “Star Trek” film in the Kelvin Timeline made its debut during an intriguing period. At that time, the Marvel Cinematic Universe was just starting out, with only “Iron Man” and “The Incredible Hulk” having been released the year before. Disney wouldn’t acquire Lucasfilm for another three years, and they wouldn’t restart the Star Wars franchise until six years later under J.J. Abrams’ direction. Consequently, in May 2009, “Star Trek” provided an entertaining, action-packed space adventure that was missing from the blockbuster scene. It remains the most successful Star Trek movie domestically to this day.

The movie titled Star Trek started off with a less impressive debut weekend compared to The Fantastic Four: First Steps. While the former earned $75.2 million during its first run, the latter brought in a significantly higher sum of $117.6 million. However, Star Trek managed to surpass $250 million throughout its lifetime, thanks to its remarkably robust performance in subsequent weekends. This longevity speaks volumes about the buzz generated around the film, as it dropped only 42.8% during its second weekend – a notable contrast to First Steps, which saw a sharp decline of 67.1%. Despite the initial stronger start for First Steps, the steady success of Star Trek eventually outshone it.

In terms of global earnings, these two movies are fairly close at home, but they differ significantly in international box office success. Specifically, “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” has a lead with a worldwide gross of $491 million, while “Star Trek” only managed to collect about $385.6 million globally. Despite “Star Trek” being an iconic sci-fi franchise for many years, its films have never matched the box office power of franchises like Marvel and Star Wars. This could explain why “Star Trek Beyond,” released during the peak of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Star Wars resurgence, was the least profitable film in the Kelvin Timeline series.

The debut of “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” didn’t quite deliver the strong box office recovery that Disney and Marvel were anticipating, but it has still managed to hold its own. It’s noteworthy that the other two Marvel Cinematic Universe releases this year, specifically “Captain America: Brave New World” ($200.5 million) and an unspecified “Thunderbolts” movie ($190.2 million), failed to surpass the domestic total of “Star Trek” during their individual runs. The upcoming competition between these franchises is intriguing, as Marvel prepares for the conclusion of the Multiverse Saga and Paramount embarks on new “Star Trek” film productions.

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2025-08-27 23:39