The Fantastic Four: First Steps is all set to clash with James Gunn’s Superman at the box office. The film is all set to kick off Marvel’s Phase Six. Directed by Matt Shakman, the film features Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as the titular characters. The film’s box office success is crucial for the two Avengers movies that follow it.
With the MCU’s current box office performances, The Fantastic Four‘s prospects look bleak. The film was shot in the U.K. and Spain, which means that it may take some time for us to obtain a clear picture of the budget, given the tax credits available in those countries.
What is the budget of The Fantastic Four: First Steps?
An exact budget of The Fantastic Four: First Steps is currently unavailable due to a lack of sufficient data. An estimated budget of its competitor, Superman, is already out, from public documents filed in Ohio. However, the Marvel film was largely filmed in Pinewood Studios in the U.K., with some portions being shot in Spain.
Marvel’s reported budget for the film will only be available when the U.K. tax credits filings are released. However, some clues suggest that the film’s production budget will be in the range of $200-250 million. Firstly, it can be assumed that The Fantastic Four budget is not going to be anywhere near Superman‘s budget.
According to reports, the production budget for Superman is $363.8 million (via THR). James Gunn’s film underwent major reshoots, which likely contributed to the inflated budget of the film. However, The Fantastic Four experienced no major production issues or reshoots. The only minor reshoots involved Julia Garner‘s Shalla-Bal, and they took place in Los Angeles.
During the initial stages of the film’s production, big names such as Margot Robbie and Adam Driver were considered for the leads. However, rumors emerged that they were too pricey for Marvel Studios (via The Hot Mic). Now, Pedro Pascal doesn’t come cheap, but it’s a good guess that the current cast is less costly than the high-profile names initially reported for the roles.
The size and scope of the film were discussed with Grant Curtis, one of the producers, during a set visit for journalists. While Curtis admitted that the film was an ambitious project, he also added that they had their eyes on the budget. He shared (via Collider):
There is, you know, a financial component to that narrative. And so you have to play both, but that’s also kind of what we all do for a living, is try to tell the biggest, coolest narrative possible on a fiscally responsible scale. And we’ve been able to do that.
Additionally, the U.K. tax incentives likely reduced the production cost by a significant amount. Marvel’s earlier film, Thunderbolts*, filmed in Atlanta, Georgia, had a reported production budget of $180 million. So, it’s safe to assume that the production cost of the film stayed between $200 million and $250 million.
Now, the budget of the film could totally surprise us, just like Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness. Fans were shocked to find out that the second Doctor Strange film cost a whopping $414.9 million to make, according to Disney’s filings (via Forbes).
How much does The Fantastic Four: First Steps need to make to break even?
A film’s production and marketing budget usually constitutes the actual amount spent on the film. The Fantastic Four: First Steps needs to recoup both of these amounts to be considered profitable. It is a general rule in the industry that the marketing budget is typically equal to the production budget.
Marvel’s marketing budget for the Pedro Pascal film is likely to be higher than that of its previous films. Marvel isn’t going to run the same old marketing tactics that it used for Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts*.
Marvel is already going nuts with the marketing, as they released two Fantastic Four commercials specifically filmed for the NBA Western Conference Finals. Pascal narrated the opening for Game 4 of the sports event, with the F4 branding surrounding him. It should be noted that Marvel hasn’t made a TV spot specifically for a sports event since Spider-Man: Homecoming.
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Fantastic Four: First Steps NBA Western Conference Finals video
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Pedro Pascal narrating the open for Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals
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The Fantastic Four is likely going to spend $250 million in marketing for the film. The combined numbers will take the total budget of the film to over $500 million. The film needs to make at least $500 million to start making any profits. Now, the question that remains is whether the film will make that much money at the box office, given the recent fate of Thunderbolts* despite its critical acclaim.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps has already scored a win at the box office
Despite Marvel’s current troubles, The Fantastic Four: First Steps has to be the studio’s most anticipated release this year. This was reflected in the film’s presale numbers, as Fandango briefly announced the film as the best first-day ticket preseller this year on Instagram. That was until Superman took over the record a few days later (via ComicBookMovie).
Fans don’t expect The Fantastic Four to emerge on top of Superman at the box office. While Superman‘s projected opening weekend collection is reportedly $160 million, The Fantastic Four is expected to open at $125-136 million (via Box Office Theory). Still, the numbers are pretty promising for the Marvel film.
If the word-of-mouth and critical reviews are great for the film, it is expected to earn $600-650 million comfortably. The film can even reach a billion-dollar box office, given that there will be no significant competitors for it in August.
While the F4 family has a huge fanbase, none of the previous Fantastic Four movies have come close to the billion-dollar mark. However, these films didn’t have great reviews, and fans had a lot to complain about them. Most importantly, they didn’t have the backing of Marvel Studios. Here are the box office numbers of the previous Fantastic Four movies.
| Fantastic Four movies | Box Office |
| Fantastic Four (2005) | $333,535,934 |
| Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007) | $301,913,131 |
| Fantastic Four (2015) | $167,882,881 |
Marvel needs the new film to work badly, because the success of Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars rides heavily on this success. The titular four—Pedro Pascal’s Reed Richards, Vanessa Kirby‘s Sue Storm, Joseph Quinn‘s Johnny Storm, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach’s Ben Grimm—are part of the Doomsday cast as well.
Besides these four actors, The Fantastic Four: First Steps will also star Ralph Ineson, Julia Garner, Paul Walter Hauser, John Malkovich, Sarah Niles, and Natasha Lyonne.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps is scheduled for release in theaters in the United States on July 25, 2025.
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