Alien: Romulus Opens Strong with $41.5M
Alien: Romulus, the 20th Century and Disney film, earned $41.5 million at the domestic box office, making it the franchise’s second-best opening weekend.
The eighth installment of the Alien franchise premiered on August 16, toppling Deadpool & Wolverine from its position. Alien: Romulus raked in $41.5 million at the domestic box office and $108.2 million globally. Moreover, this is the second-highest opening for the 45-year-old franchise, the highest being the 2012 film, Prometheus.
From the Don’t Breathe director, Fede Álvarez and producer Ridley Scott comes this sci-fi/horror-thriller. According to 20th Century, this eighth installment of the Alien franchise follows a “group of young space colonizers” who come across “the most terrifying life form in the universe” while exploring a space station. The film stars Cailee Spaeny (Priscilla), David Jonsson (Murder is Easy), Archie Renaux (Shadow and Bone), Isabela Merced (The Last of Us), Spike Fearn (Aftersun), and Aileen Wu.
The film boasts an 86% score on Rotten Tomatoes, and the audience is already singing its praises.
Alien: Romulus is an absolutely beautiful movie pic.twitter.com/jDpMSzxL0I
— Mike Carolla (@SJTimes13) August 18, 2024
Deadline reported that the film’s impressive global earnings are largely attributed to its explosive success in China. Alien: Romulus opened in China with $25.7 million at the box office, which makes it the second-best opening for a Hollywood film this year. In addition, the film also garnered $5.4 million in South Korea, $4.8 million in the U.K., $3.8 million in France, and $2.8 million in Mexico.
Additionally, Disney actively promoted the film through various collaborations, including the Alien: Romulus Makeup Collection by Phoenix Rising Cosmetics and the limited edition Reebok x Aliens BB 4000 II Mid Shoes.
Reebok x Alien Romulus: Ripped from the Archives
— Reebok (@Reebok) August 9, 2024
The signature Reebok style from the celebrated franchise. Straight from Alien: Romulus, the latest drop reimagines the iconic ‘80s style, now with distressed detailing and the Weyland-Yutani logo. @AlienAnthology Coming soon. pic.twitter.com/nTWvXb70z6
Despite the favorable reviews, some viewers were concerned about the director’s decision to create Ian Holm’s likeness. Rather than bringing back Holm’s role as Ash from Alien, his likeness is reimagined as a new synthetic character named Rook, through CGI and deep-fake AI technology. Moreover, this decision was approved by Holm’s estate.
Álvarez explained to The Hollywood Reporter that, “It was unfair that the likeness of Ash was never used again. Lance Henriksen has been used a few times. Michael Fassbender got to do it a few times.” The Evil Dead filmmaker continues, “So when we started thinking about the likeness of this character with Ridley, it was going to be a torso [and head] that we would build. So it didn’t need to be the likeness of a current working actor, and Ridley was the one who said, ‘Ash was always the best. He needs to make a comeback.’”
The latest chapter of the Alien franchise is sure to deliver a terrifying jolt of horror, you can watch the trailer for Alien: Romulus below.
