Is it safe to say that theAlienfranchise is back?Alien: Romulusopened just three weeks ago, and it has managed to earn some bragging rights for the horror genre at the box office. Xenomorph action has turned into major cash for 20th Century Studios, and it has putthe latest Alien installment at the top of horror earnings so far this year.
Per John Squires,Editor-in-Chief at Bloody Disgusting,Alien: Romulusis officially the highest-grossing horror film of the year worldwide, with a current global take of $285.3 million. This tops the worldwide total ofA Quiet Place: Day One, which grossed $261.5 million by the end of its run. So far,Alien: Romulushas amassed $90.6 million domestically and $194.7 million from international markets. Especially robust has been China, where the film has earned $93.1 million to date. All of this was done on a pretty slim budget of $80 million, relatively tame by most industry standards.
Alien: Romulus
Alien: Romulus takes the phenomenally successful “Alien” franchise back to its roots. While scavenging the deep ends of a derelict space station, a group of young space colonizers come face to face with the most terrifying life form in the universe.
Alien: Romulus Was Intended to Be a Hulu Release
WhenAlien: Romuluswas first announced in 2022, it wasintended to premiere on the Hulu streaming service. Director Fede Álvarez previously explained that this was the original plan when he signed on for the project in 2021, due to movie theaters still recovering from the aftermath of the pandemic. But those plans changed oncemovie-going became much healthierwhileAlien: Romuluswas in production.
“That decision was not made at the point where theaters were healthy. But it was always going to be an ambitious movie for [a streaming] platform. I remember making an announcement to everybody that this movie was going to be in theaters, and there was a big cheer. I was like, wow, even the gaffer cares that this goes into theaters.”
Alien: Romulus Director Shares Creepy BTS Clip of the Terrifying Final Monster
Alien: Romulus director Fede Álvarez has released a video that shows the final monster is someone in a suit, and not a CGI effect.
The film opened to stellar reviews, registering an 80 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, and it secured the second-best box office debut of the franchise with $42 million, behind onlyPrometheus($51 million). Its performance in China is especially thrilling because Chinese audiences haven’t been flocking to Hollywood films in recent years. Other thanGodzilla x Kong: The New Empire, which grossed $134 million in China,Alien: Romulushas been one of the few Hollywood films to make an impact in the area. The performance ofRomulusis actually more surprising thanGodzillabecauseThe New Empireis produced by Legendary Entertainment, which is a Chinese-owned company.Romulusis nowthe third film out of seven in the franchise to even score a release in China.
Over theLabor Day holiday weekend,Alien: Romulusgrossed a little over $11 million, landing in second place for the weekend. Domestically, the film has earned $90.6 million and has topped the performance of the previous film,Alien: Covenant($74.2 million domestic, $240.8 million worldwide).
Alien: Romulusis now playing in theaters worldwide.
