“Alien: Romulus” has grossed $41.5 million, marking the second-highest opening in the long-running “Alien” franchise. The ticket sales were enough for the latest chapter in the sci-fi horror franchise from Disney and 20th Century Fox to end the three-week reign of “Deadpool & Wolverine,” which just passed “Joker” as the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time with $1.14 billion.
The milestones cap a stellar summer Disney movie streak that began with “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” (the top May film with $397 million) and continued through “Inside Out 2” (the top June film with $1.597 billion) and “Deadpool & Wolverine” (the top July film with $1.14 billion). The studio earlier this month became the first in 2024 to surpass $3 billion in global ticket sales, and it should continue to build on that total with “Moana 2” (Nov. 27) and “Mufasa: The Lion King” (Dec. 20) on the calendar through the end of the year. It’s an encouraging turnaround after Disney’s 2023 lineup consisted of commercial disappointments like “The Marvels,” “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” a “The Haunted Mansion” remake and the animated “Wish.”
Alien: Romulus grossed $66.7 million at the international box office, for a global opening of $108.2 million. The film has been well received by critics (it holds an 82% “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes) and audiences (who gave it a “B+” on CinemaScore), which bodes well for its theatrical release.
This is an excellent opportunity for […] “It was hard to make a film this deep in the franchise,” says David A. Gross, who runs the film consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research. “In 1979, the first film raised the bar for creature feature films. Forty-five years later, the story still resonates. It’s an elite, impressive business.”
Directed by Fede Alvarez (“Don’t Breathe”), the seventh installment in the apocalyptic franchise that began with Ridley Scott’s 1979 Alien. The $80 million film follows a group of young intergalactic colonists (including Cailee Spaeny, David Johnson, Archie Reno and Isabela Merced) who come face-to-face with a terrifying lifeform while searching an abandoned space station. In terms of opening ticket sales, Alien: Romulus improved on the opening of 2017’s Alien: Covenant ($36 million) and 2004’s Alien vs. Predator ($38.3 million), but fell short of 2012’s Prometheus (a series-best $51 million).
“Alien: Romulus” was the only new film to open nationwide over the weekend since Kevin Costner’s “Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 2” (which was scheduled for Aug. 16) was dropped from the calendar. “Chapter 1,” a $100 million film, failed to make a splash in June, grossing just $32 million worldwide, prompting its backers to shelve plans for a sequel. Otherwise, the remaining films have dominated the domestic box office charts.
Despite stiff competition, “Deadpool & Wolverine” managed to overtake Sony’s romantic drama “It Ends With Us” for second place. The Marvel superhero adventure, starring Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, added $29 million in its fourth weekend, down 46 percent from last week. The film has grossed $545.8 million in North America and $596.8 million internationally so far.
“It Ends With Us” also had another big weekend, taking in $24 million from 3,739 theaters on its second day, down 52 percent from its $50 million debut. The adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s novel, starring Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni (who also directed the film), is closing in on the $100 million mark domestically with $97.7 million so far.
Universal's “Twisters” took fourth place with $9.8 million from 3,483 locations in its fifth weekend in theaters, down just 35% from its previous opening. The film is also available to rent on premium video on demand this week, which didn't impact ticket sales. “Twisters,” which stars Daisy Edgar-Jones, Glen Powell and Anthony Ramos as storm chasers in central Oklahoma, has grossed $238.4 million in North America and $333.4 million worldwide.
“Coraline,” the animated fantasy film from Laika, which was re-released for its 15th anniversary, took fifth place with $8.9 million from 1,535 theaters. The film has grossed about $11.3 million since its return to theaters on Thursday.
Elsewhere, Lionsgate’s video game adaptation Borderlands continued to languish at the box office. The critically underrated film, starring Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart and Ariana Greenblatt, dropped to ninth place with $2.35 million from 3,125 theaters in its second weekend. Borderlands has made $13 million in North America so far. It cost $115 million to produce (part of that was covered by international sales, according to the studio) and is one of the biggest box office flops of the year.
