“Alien: Romulus” slipped to $18 million from 3,885 locations across Friday and previews suggest the latest 20th-century survival thriller series will come in north of the studio’s projections for a $40 million opening. Weekend. The killer sci-fi feature takes inspiration from IMAX and other premium large-format auditoriums. Disney’s solid start marks a victory lap as it ruled theaters in the summer season with two big hits, “Deadpool & Wolverine” and “Inside Out 2.”
“Romulus” was originally greenlit for a Hulu debut, but Disney moved the Fede Alvarez-Helmet production to a theatrical release before principal photography began. Nearly 50 years old, the “Alien” series is still a valuable brand name for horror and sci-fi fans, and they’re coming out on opening weekend. The franchise’s previous two entries, “Prometheus” and “Alien: Covenant,” saw the original film’s director, Ridley Scott, return to the property. “Prometheus” debuted to $51 million in 2012 and finished with $403 million worldwide; 2017 entry “Covenant” marked a drop, opening with $36 million and ending with $240 million worldwide.
Seven years later, “Romulus” has brought some renewed life to the R-rated franchise — and for less, too. This latest entry cost $80 million to produce before marketing efforts – a financial weight less than the previous two entries. If the franchise’s solid track record overseas for “Romulus” continues, this domestic debut should be a solid foundation for a fruitful theatrical run — especially given the entry’s positive reviews and warm response from audiences (the survey firm turned in a CinemaScore of B+ — the franchise’s highest since James Cameron’s “Aliens”). High quality and a particularly solid result for a horror film, which would receive lower scores).
The mid-quel, set between the events of “Alien” and “Aliens,” wipes the slate clean by introducing a new, younger cast of makeback victims for HR Giger’s Xenomorph designs. The group includes Kaylee Spaney, David Johnson and Isabella Merced.
Disney takes credit for second place as Marvel’s “Deadpool & Wolverine” relinquishes its No. 1 domestic ranking in its fourth weekend. The mega-meta superhero team-up feature earned $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 surpassed “Joker” to become the highest-grossing R-rated release of all time.
The Blake Lively-Justin Baldoni drama “It Ends With Us” finished third with $7.7 million on Friday. The adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s best-selling novel sees an impressive take, posting a 52% slide in its opening weekend. A modest drop like this suggests the film is finding a sizable audience outside of fans of the book. The film should surpass $100 million in North America by next week — an impressive return on its $25 million production budget.
Universal’s release “Twisters” is still hanging around in the top five, with a three-day total of $9.2 million and a 39% drop from last weekend. Amblin’s production now exceeds $230 million domestic gross.
The fifth goes to Fathom’s reissue of Henry Selick’s stop-motion classic “Coral,” celebrating its 15th anniversary in a remastered 3D version (the film also runs in 2D). The Focus Features production drew substantial crowds, earning $5.8 million in Friday and Thursday previews at 1,564 locations. The specialty release is now expected to cross $10 million in its first four days of release. That’s more than half of its $16.8 million opening in 2009 — not bad for a 15-year-old movie.
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