The Fantastic Four: First Steps sees a sharp 66% drop in second weekend despite strong debut

Marvel’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps opened in the theatres on a strong note, but seems to have started facing a steep downfall at the box office. The latest numbers have proved that the comic book adventure has failed to perform well beyond the film’s core demographic of superhero fans.

The Fantastic Four dropped 66% in its second weekend, grossing $40 million from 4,125 theatres after  $117.6 million opening.

According to Variety, experts had predicted a lesser fall of 55% to 60%. Superman dropped 53% in its sophomore weekend after opening to $125 million the previous week in July. The sharp drop is surprising considering the Marvel tentpole's good reviews, strong word-of-mouth, and little direct competition.

Even holding onto the number one position at the North American box office, The Fantastic Four is now one of the larger second-weekend drops in Disney's Marvel Cinematic Universe — less than The Marvels (off 78%) but comparable to Captain America: Brave New World (off 68%), Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (off 70%), and Thor: Love and Thunder (off 67%).