“Alien: Romulus,” the latest addition to the 45-year-old franchise, soared to first place at the North American box office, earning an estimated $41.5 million in its opening weekend across 3,885 locations in the U.S. and Canada.
Globally, the 20th Century Studios release secured a $108.2 million debut, with $66.7 million coming from 49 international markets. The Walt Disney Co., which owns 20th Century Studios, claimed the top two spots on the charts, with Marvel’s “Deadpool & Wolverine” taking second place with $29 million in its fourth weekend. Disney has been responsible for approximately 42% of the industry’s summer box office revenue, bolstered by hits like “Inside Out 2” and “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.”
Despite August often being a slow period for the movie business, 2024 has seen a string of recent successes, including “Deadpool & Wolverine” and “It Ends With Us,” pushing the late August weekend to over 30% ahead of the same weekend last year and more than 10% higher than August 2019.
“The summer started off pretty gloomy, but it’s winding up really strong,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore. “We thought we were going to coast through August, but now we’re powering through August towards a much better overall summer number than we expected for the box office.”
Directed by Fede Álvarez, “Alien: Romulus” is set around the time of the original “Alien” and “Aliens” films, featuring a young cast led by Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson, and Isabela Merced. The sci-fi horror film leans into Álvarez’s expertise in the genre, known for his work on “Evil Dead” and “Don’t Breathe,” and embraces the franchise’s horror roots.
Reviews have been mostly positive, with the film earning an 81% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and audiences giving it a B+ CinemaScore.
The romantic drama “It Ends With Us” landed in third place with $24 million, a 52% drop from its strong opening. The Sony film, starring Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni (who also directed), has grossed $97.8 million to date on a modest $25 million budget. The film, adapted from Colleen Hoover’s bestselling novel, follows Lively’s character Lily Bloom as she navigates a love triangle that complicates her life.
In its fifth weekend, “Twisters” took fourth place with $9.8 million from 3,483 theaters, bringing its domestic total to $238.4 million.
Rounding out the top five was the re-release of “Coraline,” which earned $8.6 million over the weekend and $11.3 million across four days. The stop-motion animated film, celebrating its 15th anniversary, was adapted from Neil Gaiman’s novella and marked the first-ever release for Laika Studios.
The video game adaptation “Borderlands,” starring Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, and Jamie Lee Curtis, earned $2.4 million in its second weekend, bringing its total to $13.5 million against a reported $120 million budget.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
- “Alien: Romulus,” $41.5 million.
- “Deadpool & Wolverine,” $29 million.
- “It Ends With Us,” $24 million.
- “Twisters,” $9.8 million.
- “Coraline,” $8.6 million.
- “Despicable Me 4,” $6 million.
- “Trap,” $3.4 million.
- “Inside Out 2,” $3.2 million.
- “Borderlands,” $2.4 million.
- “Stree 2,” $2.2 million.
Source: AP
