Alien: Romulus seems certain to finally end Deadpool & Wolverine’s reign at the top of the box office heap.
This weekend sees the release of Fede Alvarez’s contribution to one of the greatest sci-fi franchises of all time, Alien: Romulus. While we mostly loved the movie (read our review HERE), the big question now is whether or not it will successfully relaunch the franchise on the big screen. After a rough 2023, Disney’s had a charmed run of crowdpleasers this year, with Inside Out 2 and Deadpool & Wolverine ranking among the highest-grossing movies ever. Yet, the studio also successfully relaunched the Planet of the Apes franchise with Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. Will they do the same with Alien?
Unlike the Predator prequel, Prey, Alien: Romulus is getting a full theatrical release on IMAX screens. So, how will it fare at the box office? This is surprisingly hard to predict. While the Alien movies are considered classics now, none have ever set the box office on fire outside the first two movies. Not adjusted for inflation, the highest-grossing movie was actually Prometheus, which opened with $51 million and made $126 million domestically. Alien: Covenant made significantly less, with $36 million and a $74 million total.
Box office forecasters think the movie will open in the $45-55 million range, but I think it will make in the neighbourhood of $40 million. That said, I expect word of mouth to be better than any other recent addition to the franchise, so it should have good legs next weekend, where it goes up against The Crow reboot. Romulus will also be a huge streaming hit, but whatever the case, it should be able to dethrone Deadpool & Wolverine this weekend, with that movie looking like it will make about $35 million. It should be followed closely by Blake Lively’s It Ends With Us, which should easily make another $30 million and change.
Here are my predictions:
- Alien: Romulus: $40 million
- Deadpool & Wolverine: $35 million
- It Ends With Us: $30 Million
- Twisters: $10 million
- Despicable Me 4: $5 million
Will you be seeing Alien: Romulus this weekend? Let us know in the comments!