Fantastic for the box office

The comic-book adaptation "Fantastic Four" helped to end a pattern in which domestic movie revenues had seen better days, raking in $56 million during its first three days.

According to industry estimates Sunday, box office ticket sales are up 2.25 percent to this time last year.

Paul Dergarabedian, president of box office tracker Exhibitor Relations, says numbers often drop slightly when studios release final figures Monday, but this past weekend should come in ahead of last year's. Dergarabedian went on to say, "It took four superheros to end this slump, and Hollywood is grateful, comic-book movies, if properly marketed, are exactly what mainstream audiences want to see in their summer movies."

"Fantastic Four" is based on the Marvel Comics series started in the 60s. The movie stars Loan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Michael Chiklis, and Chris Evans as astronauts who obtain superpowers after being exposed to a cosmic storm.

With unflattering reviews, some critics calling it a lightweight tale with a sitcom tone, the movie far surpassed many people's predictions on how well it would do at the box office. 20th Century Fox's head distributor expected a debut "in the high 30s."