Disney CEO Reacts to Fantastic Four Box Office, Details Sequel Strategy

Disney CEO Bob Iger weighed in on The Fantastic Four: First Steps and how the company considers it an original property.

What did Disney CEO Bob Iger say about sequels and new IP?

Disney had an important earnings call on Wednesday morning during which Iger spoke about the company’s future. One of the topics involved the introduction of Marvel’s First Family into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Even though there have been three live-action Fantastic Four movies prior to First Steps, Iger views the 2025 version as a brand-new franchise for Disney.

“We are developing original property under the 20th Century banner and under the Searchlight banner,” Iger said via Variety. “And look, you could even argue that Marvel continues to mine its library of characters for original property. Even though, for instance, there have been Fantastic Four movies before, we kind of consider the one we did an original property in many respects, because we’re introducing those characters to people who are not familiar with them at all.”

First Steps is already the highest-grossing movie in the Fantastic Four franchise. The Marvel adventure debuted to $117.6 million at the domestic box office. Despite positive reviews from critics and fans, First Steps grossed around $40 million in its second weekend, a 66% drop.

Marvel’s Fantastic Four should still churn a profit, but its dreams of becoming a billion-dollar hit have died. Still, Iger considers First Steps a hit since it “successfully launched this important franchise into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.”

The Fantastic Four: First Steps is another example of Disney leaning into familiar IP. The rest of Disney’s 2025 slate is loaded with sequels, remakes, and franchise IP. Freakier Friday, Tron: Ares, Zootopia 2, and Avatar: Fire and Ash will all hit theaters by the end of the year.

Despite the IP overload, Iger stressed that Disney wants to create fresh IP, but at the end of the day, releasing “great movies” is what matters.

“We continue to be focused on creating new IP,” Iger explained. “Obviously, that’s of great value to us long term. But we also know that the popularity of our older IP remains significant, and the opportunities to either produce sequels or convert what was previously animation to live action, like we’re doing with Moana in 2026. It’s just a great opportunity for the company and supports our franchise. So I wouldn’t say that we’ve got a priority one way or the other. Our priority is to put out great movies that ultimately resonate with consumers.”

Originally reported by Dan Girolamo on SuperHeroHype.

Source: Comingsoon.net