Wow. The buzz on Fantastic Four was never overly positive, but this morning’s box office makes prospects look positively grim for the comic reboot. The Fox release earned an estimated $11.3 million from 3,995 locations on Friday, including $2.7 million from its Thursday p.m. engagements. That means that Fantastic Four may not hit $28 million this weekend. Considering its original projection was $45 million, that has to hurt.

You’d expect that a movie based on a beloved Marvel Comics property would attract its share of fans. Then again, you’d also expect a movie based on a beloved Marvel Comics property to be passably entertaining. Apparently, that’s where Fantastic Four went wrong. Audiences gave the film a dismal C- CinemaScore, while Rotten Tomatoes has it at just 9% fresh. That’s one point higher than Hot Pursuit, Warner Bros.’s regrettable buddy comedy from earlier this summer.

The bad news for Fantastic Four looks like good news for last weekend’s top film, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation. In its sophomore frame, M:I 5 is expected to bring in at least $28 million, which would be good enough for first place and will also put the film over $200 million in domestic grosses.

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The only other new title to crack Friday’s top five was The Gift. The thriller starring Jason Bateman and Rebecca Hall opened in third place with an estimated $4.1 million from 1,648 locations. The first release from newbie STX Entertainment, The Gift was projected to open with around $6 million. Instead, it looks like it will bring in at least $10 million through Sunday.

Sony’s Ricki and the Flash opened in sixth place yesterday. The Jonathan Demme-directed pic starring Meryl Streep brought in a reported $2.25 million from 1,603 locations for what should be a $7 million first weekend.

Holding a significantly higher theatre count (2,230) than either Ricki and the Flash or The Gift, Shaun the Sheep Movie debuted outside the top ten altogether. A stop-motion animated feature from Aardman studios (of Wallace and Gromit fame), Shaun the Sheep earned an estimated $1.22 million from 2,230 locations toward what should be a $4 million first weekend.

On the flip side of the animated coin, Minions is set to pass $300 million in domestic grosses on Saturday. Worldwide, Universal’s blockbuster has earned a total of $864.8 million since July.

Here’s Fridays top six films based on studio estimates. Check back tomorrow for this weekend's box office results.

 

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