Every grain had to be set just right, dampened to mold into shape in the sand.
Sand sculptors spent the day on Thursday, July 3, creating a massive “4” in the sand near T-Street in San Clemente, a promotion for the “Fantastic Four” movie releasing later this month, also coinciding with the Fourth of July holiday – if it can withstand the beach crowds, high tide and big waves through the day.
A team from Archisand will be builds a sand sculpture just south of T-Street in San Clemente on Thursday, July 3, 2025, to commemorate the upcoming release of, The Fantastic Four: First Steps movie. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
As the design for the sand sculpture lays near by, Greg LeBon with the team from Archisand, digs in the sand as he and others build a sand sculpture just south of T-Street in San Clemente on Thursday, July 3, 2025. The sculpture will commemorate the upcoming release of, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, movie. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Ed Nagy, left, Greg LeBon, center, and Henry Nagy, right, of Chula Vista, all with the team from Archisand, work on a sand sculpture they are building just south of T-Street in San Clemente on Thursday, July 3, 2025. The sculpture will commemorate the upcoming release of, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, movie. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Ed Nagy of Irvine, with the team from Archisand, sprays water on a sand sculpture being built just south of T-Street in San Clemente on Thursday, July 3, 2025. The sculpture will commemorate the upcoming release of, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, movie. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The team from Archisand work on a sand sculpture they are building just south of T-Street in San Clemente on Thursday, July 3, 2025. The sculpture will commemorate the upcoming release of, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, movie. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Alex LeBon of Laguna Niguel, with the team from Archisand measures a portion of the sand sculpture being built just south of T-Street in San Clemente on Thursday, July 3, 2025. The sculpture will commemorate the upcoming release of, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, movie. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
As the Amtrak Surfliner train passes by with a car wrapped to celebrate Disneyland’s 70th anniversary, Ed Nagy of Irvine, with the team from Archisand, sprays water on a sand sculpture being built just south of T-Street in San Clemente on Thursday, July 3, 2025. The sculpture will commemorate the upcoming release of, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, movie. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The design for the sand sculpture built by a team from Archisand just south of T-Street in San Clemente on Thursday, July 3, 2025. It will commemorate the upcoming release of, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, movie. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The team from Archisand work on a sand sculpture they are building just south of T-Street in San Clemente on Thursday, July 3, 2025. The sculpture will commemorate the upcoming release of, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, movie. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
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A team from Archisand will be builds a sand sculpture just south of T-Street in San Clemente on Thursday, July 3, 2025, to commemorate the upcoming release of, The Fantastic Four: First Steps movie. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
“Today is all about 4s,” said Greg Le Bon, a sand sculptor with Archisand, the company behind the project. “It’s all about celebrating our country, the celebration of the Fourth of July, and the movie coming out on July 25.”
The Fantastic Four emblem, a circle wrapped around the number 4, is 44 feet in diameter, he noted.
“It’s like someone took a stamp from heaven and blasted a four into the sand,” Le Bon said as he and others got started on the project.
The idea for the promotion for the upcoming Marvel movie is to be able to see it from above, either from the bluff or the passing trains.
Le Bon, who has been building sand sculptures for 44 years, said the layout is always the hardest part.
“We’re used to doing sand sculptures with little faces,” he said. “This is intended to be viewed from 100 feet in the area. The challenge is really – how do you keep your perspective on the big picture of it, and not end up with a 5, by mistake.”
