TDP #40: Will Marvel Stick the Landing?

See what's trending—before it happens.

Jul 22, 2025

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✍️ Editor’s note:

The highly-anticipated return of The Fantastic Four is finally here! It premiered in Los Angeles Monday night, and the early reviews are in.

Will First Steps strike box office gold for the franchise?

Meanwhile, the Department of Justice is reportedly seeking insights from Ghislaine Maxwell in the ongoing Epstein case. Could this meeting help unseal Epstein’s grand jury filings?

Hold onto your popcorn, this one’s flying. 🍿

— The Daily Prediction Team

📽️ Fantastic Four Opening Weekend Box Office

How much will the new Fantastic Four movie rake in on its opening weekend?

The new Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, just premiered in Los Angeles on Monday. It’s up for worldwide release on the 25th, prompting film aficionados to predict its opening weekend performance.

Polymarket traders are optimistic on First Steps’ performance. The three highest options are as follows:

$135M-145M: 37%
Above $145M: 35%
$125M-135M: 22%

Going past $135 million is a very strong opening weekend for a movie. It’s a couple of notches higher than Deadline’s projections of $100M-110M for First Steps’ opening weekend.

This new MCU film could exceed expectations. It’s not a surprise, as Kalshi traders predict at least an 80% Rotten Tomatoes score for First Steps.

But can it exceed the performance of “Superman” in 2025? Superman hit $122 million in its opening weekend box office.

Well, Manifold traders aren’t exactly convinced that First Steps could overtake Superman.

Now that we know the sentiment of prediction traders, what do film critics say about the potential of the new Fantastic Four movie? 🤔

🗣️ What the Critics Say

Early critic reviews draw praise for visuals, cast chemistry, and a retro-futuristic tone. GamesRadar projects the film opening at $100M-110M, labeling it as MCU’s strongest opener this year.

BoxOfficePro and BoxOfficeTheory forecast up to a $125M debut, with some pushing towards $125M-136M.

It also helps that critics are loving the performance of the cast. Vanessa Kirby’s portrayal of Sue Storm is particularly lauded as “emotionally powerful” and the “core of the story”.

Presales for First Steps are reportedly ahead of other recent MCU titles like Thunderbolts and Captain America: Brave New World. That’s already a win for the Fantastic Four franchise, which historically hasn’t performed well at the box office.

With the early reviews and predictions revving up, the new Fantastic Four might just be a good watch. Have you bought your tickets this weekend? 🎟️

⚖️ Will Ghislaine Maxwell Testify in Front of Congress This Year?

Deputy AG Todd Blanche just confirmed that the DOJ has reached out to Ghislaine Maxwell’s legal team.

A meeting between the two parties could shift things forward. Probably a possible Maxwell appearance before the Congress? 👀

Kalshi traders are already on this market days before. Even with the potential meeting with the DOJ, they’re still placing a low probability on Maxwell testifying in front of Congress.

Polymarket traders are giving this market a slightly higher chance of resolving to a “Yes”, but it’s still a bearish sentiment.

🕵️ Who is Ghislaine Maxwell?

Ghislaine Maxwell is a former partner of Jeffrey Epstein. She helped recruit and groom underage girls for Epstein’s sex-trafficking operation.

In 2022, she was convicted on fix of six counts and received a 20-year sentence.

DOJ’s plans to interview Maxwell could be a major pivot in the Epstein investigation. This marks the first formal attempt by federal prosecutors to explore if Maxwell can name additional accomplices or confirm any client list.

Some legal experts, including Alan Dershowitz, suggest Maxwell holds critical knowledge that could unravel Epstein’s broader network. A potential Maxwell testimony could shed light on Epstein’s scale of operations.

However, Maxwell’s cooperation could depend on whether she will be offered immunity or leniency.

Should Maxwell receive any immunity or sentence reduction, her testimony would be even more controversial.