‘Alien: Romulus’ Cemented Itself as a Notable Box Office Performer

THE Alien franchise has a big hit thanks to Alien: Romulus’ box office performance, as its domestic and worldwide opening total is excellent for the series.

Director Fede Álvarez was responsible for relaunching Ridley Scott’s horror/action sci-fi franchise seven years after Alien: Covenant disappointed financially.

Although the 2017 film was still the second-biggest release in the series, the pressure was put on Alien: Romulus to reinvigorate interest in the world after another divisive installment from Scott.

Luckily, Alien: Romulus’ reviews were much more favorable ahead of its theatrical release. The best Alien movies have typically been strong box office performers, which is why Disney was so eager to continue the franchise in some form after the 20th Century acquisition.

The confidence in the film was emboldened when it was revealed that Alien: Romulus switched from a Hulu exclusive movie to getting a theatrical release. Disney and 20th Century’s faith in Alien: Romulus as a box office performer is now confirmed thanks to how much money it has made.

The movie’s domestic, international, and worldwide box office totals are only going to continue to rise from this point on.

Alien: Romulus cemented itself as a notable box office performer right away. After releasing on August 16, 2024, the seventh Alien movie has a box office total of $108.2 million worldwide via Box Office Mojo. This is largely thanks to the film’s strong performance overseas, where it made $66.7 million internationally. China provided a huge boost as the territory accounted for $25.7 million, making it the largest international location for Alien: Romulus’ box office. This is where the movie’s total worldwide box office stands as of this writing.

This means that Alien: Romulus has already outperformed its reported budget. According to Variety, Alien: Romulus’ budget was $80 million before marketing expenses. It only took the movie a few days to make more than its cost, setting up the film to be very successful for Disney and 20th Century overall. How big of a hit it is ultimately comes down to where the final box office totals land worldwide.

Looking more specifically at Alien: Romulus’ opening weekend, the domestic performance is notable. The movie managed to make $41.5 million over its first three days.

That is good enough to be the second-biggest opening weekend in the Alien franchise’s history, falling only behind Prometheus’ $51 million in 2012, not adjusted for inflation. The franchise comparisons showcase how impressive Alien: Romulus’ box office performance really is. Although the movies have a strong cultural footprint, they have not always been massive box office performers with record-breaking opening weekends.

More importantly, Alien: Romulus’ opening weekend box office total was well above industry projections. There was some belief heading into the film’s first weekend that it might make less than $30 million during that time frame. That would have put the movie in the same group as The Fall Guy or Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga as major blockbusters with less-than-stellar opening weekends in 2024.

Thanks to positive word of mouth, Alien: Romulus managed to overperform and deliver a victory for Disney and 20th Century by being the #1 movie at the box office that weekend, dethroning Deadpool & Wolverine.

Now showing in Philippine cinemas nationwide. (Source: screenrant.com)

(ROHN ROMULO)