X-Men (film) while most other territories would get the film in August. Marvel Studios was depending on "X-Men"s success to ignite other franchise properties ("Spider-Man", "Fantastic Four", "Hulk", and "Daredevil"). "X-Men" grossed $157.3 million in the United States and Canada and $139 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $296.3 million, against a production budget of $75 million, becoming the eighth-highest-grossing film of 2000 domestically and ninth worldwide. In North America, "X-Men" opened on Friday, July 14, 2000, and made $20.8 million on its opening day. The film earned $54.5 million in its opening weekend, averaging $18,007 per theater, and
Fantastic Four (comic book) Reed and Sue to join that team after Engelhart had written them out of "Fantastic Four". Yet by "The Avengers" #300, where they were scheduled to join the team, Simonson was told the characters were returning to "Fantastic Four". This led to Simonson quitting "The Avengers" after that issue. Shortly afterward, he was offered the job of writing "Fantastic Four". Having already prepared a number of stories involving the Avengers with Reed and Sue in the lineup, he then rewrote these for "Fantastic Four". Simonson later recalled that working on "Fantastic Four" allowed him the latitude to use original Avengers