'Fantastic Four 2' is an upcoming sequel to 2015's reboot of the same name. 21st Century Fox reported less than stellar revenues and blames the poor performance of the first film in the box office during the first fiscal quarter of the year. The franchise has not returned to Marvel despite rumors of a planned Phase 4 reboot in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
According to Reuters, the studio responsible for the latest reboot of the superhero franchise reported a drop in its expected quarterly revenue due to meagre earnings from the first 'Fantastic Four' movie as well as a lack of major blockbuster hits. Revenue from the film industry accounts for nearly a third of Fox's total income.
Despite the setback, revenue from their cable network programming sector that includes National Geographic channel, Fox News and FX network rose to 7.2 percent. Ratings from their sports channels and Fox News have helped drive up their advertising revenue to 4 percent. Analysts predicted Fox to average $6.42 billion but in reality, it fell to $6.08 billion.
Fox's executive chairman Rupert Murdoch expressed his plight saying that their film studio suffered from the poor performance of 'The Fantastic Four' as well as bad timing, according to The Wrap. He did acknowledge that they were pleased with the recent success of 'The Martian' as well as the continued triumph of their hit television show 'Empire'.
A rumor had emerged of the superhero series' return to Marvel but these were quickly shot down by the studio. According to MovieWeb, both Fox and Marvel quickly shot down speculations of a planned reboot for 'Fantastic Four' targeted at MCU's Phase Four in 2020. The rights to Marvel Comics' original superhero family remain with Fox as of the present.
'Fantastic Four 2' is a planned follow-up to the 2015 reboot that starred Kate Mara, Miles Teller, Michael B. Jordan and Jamie Bell. The return of the actors is yet to be confirmed. The science-fiction action film is scheduled to premiere in theaters on June 9, 2017.
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