Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan in “Freakier Friday.”
Disney Enterprises, Inc.
Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan’s Freakier Friday is looking to end The Fantastic Four: First Steps’ reign at the domestic box office this weekend.
Disney and Marvel Studios’ superhero tale debuted at No. 1 in its opening weekend with $115.6 million in North American ticket sales from July 25-27 and hung on to the top spot Aug. 1-3 despite a disastrous second weekend.
Thanks to an anemic take of $38.6 million in its second frame, The Fantastic Four dropped a staggering 67% in business from its opening weekend. Now, this coming weekend, it appears that another Disney film, the family-friendly comedy Freakier Friday, will deliver the First Family of Superheroes a knockout punch.
Freakier Friday is projected by Deadline to earn $30 million in its opening weekend domestically, while The Hollywood Reporter projects the film will open with about $28 million in ticket sales.
Casting a much wider net, however, is Box Office Pro, which is projecting Freakier Friday will make $35 million to $45 million in its opening weekend.
Julia Garner and Josh Brolin in “Weapons.”
Warner Bros. Pictures/New Line Cinema
‘Weapons’ Is Also Taking Aim At ‘The Fantastic Four’
Freakier Friday — the sequel to the 2003 hit Freaky Friday also starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan — isn’t the only newcomer to the domestic box office this weekend.
Warner Bros. horror thriller Weapons, starring Julia Garner and Josh Brolin, is projected by Box Office Pro to earn $25 million to $35 million domestically, which is more in line with Deadline and THR’s projections for the film at $30 million and $25 million, respectively.
So, where does that leave The Fantastic Four First Steps? Box Office Pro is projecting a $15 million to $20 million third-weekend take for the film, and clearly, their projections for its competitors are loftier than Deadline and THR. The latter two, in fact, didn’t even mention The Fantastic Four in its conversation as to where it will end up financially in its third frame.
No matter where The Fantastic Four ends up by Sunday, exectives at Disney and Marvel will no doubt be doing some soul searching — if they haven’t already been — about how the film that was so adored by critics and big with audiences in its opening weekend fell so far so fast.
One thing’s for certain: Marvel Studios will be navigating some shaky ground in the coming year and a half trying to figure out how to get the Marvel Cinematic Universe back on course after its third box office disappointment of 2025.
After all, Fantastic Four is the film meant to set up the return of Robert Downey Jr. to the MCU with Avengers: Doomsday, which is currently scheduled for a Dec. 18, 2026, release.