'Fantastic Four' rakes in $23M in Thursday night previews at box office

Disney and Marvel Studios’ comic-book story reboot, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, secured around $23 million in previews on Thursday, July 24, starting at 2 PM.

The domestic expectation was to score between $100M–$110M; however, the MCU movie was expected to soar higher. The given numbers are from other sources, not Disney.

The previews for the Matt Shakman-directed movie are among the best of all MCU instalments, double that of Marvel’s recent Thunderbolts ($11.5M, $31.8M Friday, $74.3M opening) and 92% higher than Captain America: Brave New World ($12M, $40.9M Friday, $88.8M 3-day).

Moreover, Rotten Tomatoes has currently given it Certified Fresh status, with an 88% critic score and a 92% audience score.

The RT score is close to the MCU’s previous instalment, Thunderbolts, which scored 88%/93%, and is critically higher than Deadpool & Wolverine, which earned 78%, and roughly the same as that R-rated MCU title’s audience rating (94%).

Remarkably, the movie also surpassed the RT rating of James Gunn’s Superman, which came out last month and debuted at 86%, currently standing at 83% as more reviews roll in.

Fantastic Four’s Thursday debut marks the 12th time an MCU movie has had preview earnings north of $20M; however, 2019’s Avengers: Endgame still holds the all-time domestic preview record with $60M.

RELATED: ‘Fantastic Four: First Steps’ rotten tomatoes score beats DCU ‘Superman’