Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures/Everett Collection SATURDAY AM: The Fantastic Four: First Steps at $120M-$125M is one of the sixth best openings for a Marvel Cinematic Universe title post Covid and that’s a great thing.

First Steps” stretched its arms around $57 million from 4,125 theaters across Friday and preview screenings. Per Disney’s numbers, that’s the second-biggest opening day of the calendar year, ranking just behind “A Minecraft Movie” ($57.

Disney/Marvel Studios’ “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” is having a, well, fantastic start to its box office run. Including $24.5 million from Thursday previews, the film has earned a domestic opening day of $57 million and is headed for an industry estimated $123.5 million opening weekend.

The dust has yet to settle on Marvel’s latest MCU entry, but Fantastic Four: First Steps is off to a strong start this weekend. In terms of critical reception, it’s doing about the same as James Gunn’s Superman, at least as far as Rotten Tomatoes is concerned.

As the filmmaker’s three-year journey wound down on the project, he realized a key moment was missing, and managed to shoot it within a few months of the film's opening.

First Steps presents an faithful, entertaining, and compelling version of the story Rise of the Silver Surfer failed to adapt.

First Steps is on its way towards a global opening of $220M-$230M, which would place it ahead of the pre-weekend projection. Through Friday, the Matt Shankman-directed F4:FS has grossed an estimated $106.

This iteration of the Fantastic Four has a standalone adventure without all the burden of the MCU's history and cast of characters.

I t might be off-putting to mention Stan Lee when The Fantastic Four: First Steps wears its affections for Jack Kirby on its knit sleeves. But Lee used to say that Marvel's stories reflected the world outside our window.