The box office forAlien: Romulushas reached a significant milestone. The ninth installment in theAlienfranchise, the movie is set between the events of Ridley Scott’sAlienand James Cameron’sAliens,following a group of space colonists who explore an abandoned space station with a dark secret hidden. Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson, Isabela Merced, and Spike Fearn are part of the main cast, withDon’t Breathe’s Fede Álvarez directing. Following its release,Alien: Romulus' box officehas been performing exceptionally well, evenopening with the franchise’s second-best domestic debut weekend with $42 million, just behindPrometheus.
According toCollider,Alien: Romulushas now crossed $74.3 million domestically in 11 days of its theatrical run, beatingAlien: Covenant’s entire $74.2 domestic run. During its initial release, Ridley Scott’s 2017 prequel opened at number one at the box office with a $36.2 million domestic tally. However,the film fell precipitously in its second weekend with a 70.9% drop and a $10.5 million tally.
The Box Office Success For Alien: Romulus Almost Never Happened
The Movie Was Initially Slated To Be Released On Hulu.
WhileRomulus' critical and commercial success is an excellent sign of the future of theAlienfranchise, the movie’s theatrical achievements nearly didn’t happen. Similar to 2022’sPrey, when the film was announced,Romuluswas initially developed as a straight-to-streaming project for Disney’s Hulu. This was initially part of the plan under former Disney CEO Bob Chapek to aggressively produce content for its streaming services across all The Walt Disney Company divisions.
Every Upcoming Alien Movie & TV Show After Romulus
There will be further installments in the popular long-running science fiction horror franchise after the 2024 theatrical hit Alien: Romulus.
When Bob Iger returned as Disney CEO, plans for the company’s streaming efforts changed. According to Álvarez while speaking withThe Hollywood Reporter,the movie’s release strategy was changed to a theater approach shortly before production began. Because of this,Alien: Romuluswas filmed knowing it was made for the big screen instead of being altered from streaming to theatrical release after production wrapped.
TheAlienfranchise will have a streaming-driven installment, with the television seriesAlien: Earth, which is set to be released on Hulu in 2025.
With an $80 million budget, the film has been a massive commercial success in cinemas, with a $226.8 million global collection. It also gave Disney another profitable blockbuster this summer, afterKingdom of the Planet of the Apes,Inside Out 2, andDeadpool & Wolverine, with the Pixar-animated sequel still being the year’s highest-grossing movie.Alien: Romulus' success also bodes well forthe theatrical-exclusive release ofBadlands, the latest installment in thePredatorfranchise, which has recently begun filming, aiming to bring back the popular franchise to cinemas like Álvarez did this summer.
Alien: Romulus
Cast
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.
