The Xenomorphs clipped Marvel atop the box office this weekend as Alien Romulus claimed the top spot. Fede Alvarez’s film in the sci-fi horror franchise ran away with #1, bringing in $41.5 million.
That is the second-best opening in franchise history, behind only Prometheus’ $51.1 opening in June 2012. It also reps the largest start for a film by Alvarez with ease, eclipsing the $26.
4 million opening that Don’t Breathe had in August of 2016. The opening is on the high end of expectations, which had the prequel/sequel coming in in the $35 million to $40 million range coming into the weekend. It’s a strong start for the film, especially when you factor in the $66.
7 million overseas opening that was goosed by a stronger-than-expected opening in China. That gives the film $108.2 million worldwide and puts it well on the path to profit against an $80 million budget.
Buzz was high for Romulus , with Disney hoping that the franchise could be revived after Alien: Covenant fell flat. Alvarez has a lot of horror cred and fans were clearly interested in his take on Ridley Scott’s famed franchise. Disney and 20th Century Studios gave the film a savvy marketing campaign and buzz around the trailers was high.
That buzz heightened when the film came in as largely a critical hit, with an 81% aggregated critic score on Rotten Tomatoes. That’s the best average for the franchise since Aliens in 1986. The film is looking to be in very good shape at this point, with the word of mouth .