‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps’, the latest Marvel offering featuring Pedro Pascal and Vanessa Kirby, saw a marginal growth in collections on Day 5 at the Indian box office. Despite a strong start and favourable reviews, the film continues to face stiff competition from local entries.According to early estimates on sacnilk, the superhero film earned approximately Rs 1.9 crore on Tuesday, a modest rise from its Monday earnings of Rs 1.66 crore. This brings the film’s total five-day collection to Rs 23.68 crore in India.The film opened with Rs 5.5 crore on Friday and saw an encouraging jump over the weekend, collecting Rs 7.35 crore on Saturday and Rs 7.25 crore on Sunday. Its opening weekend total stood at an estimated Rs 20.1 crore. However, like many weekday trends, the numbers saw a dip post-weekend.Breaking down the collections, ‘The Fantastic Four’ earned an estimated Rs 17.27 crore from its English-language shows, while the Hindi-dubbed versions have contributed Rs 5.44 crore to the overall total.Despite the lukewarm weekday performance, the film remains on track to close its first week at approximately Rs 25 crore at the Indian box office. However, it is trailing behind other recent superhero releases.DC’s ‘Superman’, directed by James Gunn, earned Rs 31.6 crore by the end of Day 5 and went on to close its first week at Rs 35.5 crore in India.Trade analysts suggest that ‘The Fantastic Four’has been significantly impacted by the ongoing success of the Bollywood romantic drama ‘Saiyaara’. The Mohit Suri directorial, starring debutants Ahaan Panday and Aneet Padda, has proven to be a major draw for audiences, grossing over Rs 266 crore in just under two weeks. The film’s sustained dominance across multiplexes and single screens has likely eaten into the potential audience for the superhero film.‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps’ is still expected to have a steady run in India, however, its performance will depend heavily on the footfall over the coming weekend and the arrival of new releases.
