Alien: Romulus box office kicked off with a strong $42 million opening weekend, and it quickly rose to become the second highest-grossing movie in the long-running science fiction horror franchise.
Per Deadline, as of Saturday morning, Alien: Romulus is projected to take in a three-day total of $2.6 million at the domestic box office during its fifth weekend in theaters. This means that it will have crossed the $100 million milestone by Sunday evening, reaching a cumulative domestic gross of $101 million. This marks only the second time that an Alien movie has ed that milestone, after 2012's Prometheus, which earned $126.5 million at the domestic box office by the end of its run.
What This Box Office Milestone Means For Alien: Romulus
Alien: Romulus Is A Bona Fide Hit
While the Alien: Romulus release has landed a place as the second highest-grossing movie in the franchise some time ago, it continues to close the gap between its current standing and the overall gross of Prometheus, which is the No. 1 movie of the franchise with a worldwide total of $403.3 million. However, that movie crossed the $100 million milestone in its third weekend, underscoring how the new movie has consistently trailed slightly behind the Ridley Scott prequel and will likely not rise high enough to become the No. 1 Alien movie.
It is only the 15th movie to the $100 million milestone so far this year...
However, even if Romulus never becomes the highest-grossing of the Alien movies, it has cemented its status as one of the biggest hits of 2024. It is only the 15th movie to the $100 million milestone so far this year, with the most recent being the previous weekend's new release, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. However, it is in even more rarefied air as an R-rated movie, as that rating limits its ticket-buying audience. In fact, it is only the third R-rated movie to that milestone in 2024, behind Deadpool & Wolverine and Bad Boys: Ride or Die.
How Alien: Romulus Compares To The Rest Of The Franchise
It Has Pulled Far Ahead Of The Third Place Titles
While it may not reach the heights of Prometheus, by ing this milestone, Romulus is continuing to increase its considerable lead among the rest of the Alien franchise. It is widening the domestic box office gap between itself and the third place title, which is James Cameron's original 1986 sequel Aliens. That blockbuster smash, which Romulus has now outgrossed by $15 million, has earned $85.2 million and became the highest-grossing installment in the franchise at the time, remaining so until the release of Prometheus. Below, see a breakdown of how every previous installment has performed at the domestic box office:
Title |
Domestic Box Office |
|---|---|
Alien (1979) |
$78.9 million |
Aliens (1986) |
$85.2 million |
Alien 3 (1992) |
$55.5 million |
Alien: Resurrection (1997) |
$47.8 million |
Alien vs. Predator (2004) |
$80.3 million |
Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007) |
$41.8 million |
Prometheus (2012) |
$126.5 million |
Alien: Covenant (2017) |
$74.3 million |
Alien: Romulus (2024) |
$101 million |
While these totals are not adjusted for inflation, they reflect the fact that Alien: Romulus is performing well by the standards set by any previous sequel in the franchise. In fact, there is already a huge $59 million gulf between it and the lowest-grossing installment, Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem. Even the amount of difference between the two movies alone outgrosses the totals earned by the AvP sequel, as well as those earned by David Fincher's Alien 3 and its 1997 sequel Resurrection, which effectively killed the original franchise with its critical and commercial underperformance.
Alien: Resurrection has a 55% Rotten Tomatoes score, the second-lowest of the original franchise behind Alien 3's 44%.
Romulus is also showing that the franchise is bouncing back from Alien: Covenant, which slumped somewhat after Prometheus became the highest-grossing installment in the franchise. This is in keeping with what the chart reveals about subfranchises, which is that each new continuity in the Alien franchise seems to peak before diminishing commercial returns set in yet again. It remains to be seen if the 2024 title is a new peak, or if a possible follow-up to the movie could be the Aliens to its Alien, boosting its prospects even further.
Our Take On The Alien: Romulus Box Office Milestone
Romulus Is An Enormous Success For Its Budget Level
The box office success of Alien: Romulus has more than proven the theatrical viability of the movie, which was originally intended to be a Hulu streaming exclusive before principal photography began. It also goes to show that audiences will turn out for a sci-fi tentpole with a slimmer budget, as the movie cost just $80 million compared to Prometheus' estimated budget of $120 million or the roughly $100 million price tag of its 2017 follow-up Alien: Covenant. This could be the franchise's guiding principle moving forward, allowing filmmakers more leeway to explore with less financial risk.
Source: Deadline
Alien: Romulus
- Release Date
- August 16, 2024
- Runtime
- 119 Minutes
- Director
- Fede Alvarez
Cast
Rain
Andy
WHERE TO WATCH
Alien: Romulus is the seventh film in the Alien franchise. The movie is directed by Fede Álvarez and will focus on a new young group of characters who come face to face with the terrifying Xenomorphs. Alien: Romulus is a stand-alone film and takes place in a time not yet explored in the Alien franchise.
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