“Alien: Romulus” earned $18 million from 3,885 locations across Friday and preview screenings — a big tally that suggests the latest in 20th Century Fox’s survival thriller franchise will come in just north of the studio’s projection of $40 million in its opening weekend. The sci-fi thriller also got a boost from Imax and other premium large-format theaters. The strong start is a victory lap for Disney, which has dominated theaters throughout the summer with two of the year’s biggest hits, “Deadpool & Wolverine” and “Inside Out 2.”
“Romulus” was originally greenlit to debut on Hulu, but Disney shifted the Fede Alvarez-directed production to a theatrical release before principal photography began. The nearly 50-year-old “Alien” franchise remains a cult brand for horror and sci-fi fans, and it will be released on its opening weekend. Previous entries in the franchise, “Prometheus” and “Alien: Covenant,” saw the return of the original film’s director Ridley Scott to the property. “Prometheus” debuted to $51 million in 2012 and went on to gross $403 million worldwide; 2017’s “Covenant” posted a lower mark, opening to $36 million and ending to $240 million worldwide.
Seven years later, “Romulus” has breathed life back into the R-rated franchise—and at a lower price, too. This latest installment cost $80 million to produce before marketing efforts—a smaller financial weight than its two predecessors. If “Romulus” continues the franchise’s strong track record overseas, this domestic debut should be a solid foundation for a fruitful theatrical run—especially given the positive reviews and warm audience response to this release (Cinema Score gave it a B+—the franchise’s highest score since James Cameron’s “Aliens” and a particularly strong result for a horror film, which tends to get lower scores).
Set between the events of Alien and Aliens, the sequel introduces a new group of younger victims that HR Giger will be able to exploit in his Xenomorph designs. The group includes Cailee Spaeny, David Johnson, and Isabela Merced.
Disney also got bragging rights for the second spot, as Marvel’s “Deadpool & Wolverine” finally relinquished the top spot on the domestic charts in its fourth weekend of release. The superhero blockbuster made $8.1 million on Friday, down just 48% from its daily total last week. The R-rated comedy continues to draw crowds after grossing $520 million in North America and $1 billion worldwide. Earlier this week, it passed “Joker” to become the highest-grossing R-rated release of all time.
The Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni drama “It Ends With Us” is expected to finish third after making $7.7 million on Friday. The film, based on Colleen Hoover’s best-selling novel, is expected to see a 52% drop from its opening weekend. That suggests the film is finding an audience beyond fans of the book. The film is expected to surpass $100 million in North America next week — a remarkable return on its $25 million production budget.
Universal's “Twisters” also remains in fifth place, with a projected three-day $9.2 million, down 39 percent from last week. Amblin's production has now surpassed $230 million in domestic grosses.
In fifth place is Henry Selick’s classic “Coraline,” which Fathom celebrated its 15th anniversary in 3D (the film is also being released in 2D). The Fox Features production drew a solid crowd, taking in $5.8 million during its first two screenings on Friday and Thursday at 1,564 locations. The special edition is now expected to gross more than $10 million in its first four days. That’s more than half of its $16.8 million opening in 2009—not bad for a 15-year-old film.
