Romulus Wins Busy Box Office Weekend with $40M-$42M Opening

Fede Álvarez’s Alien: Romulus is making a strong start at the box office, breathing new life into the iconic franchise.

The 20th Century and Disney film dominated Friday’s domestic chart with $18 million, including $6.5 million from previews. It is expected to reach an opening weekend gross between $40 million and $42 million. Notably, Romulus has dethroned Marvel Studios’ Deadpool & Wolverine from the top position.

The film has managed to capture the interest of younger male viewers as well as older fans of the series. This success marks another victory for Disney and contributes positively to the summer box office. With an impressive 82 percent critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes and a B+ CinemaScore, Romulus is receiving a warm reception.

Romulus is also performing well internationally, eyeing a global opening upwards of $100 million.

As the eighth installment in the long-running Alien franchise, the movie is set between the events of Ridley Scott’s 1979 Alien and James Cameron’s 1986 sequel, Aliens. Serving as a producer, Scott oversees this R-rated film, which follows young colonists who stumble upon a derelict space station and encounter the terrifying alien creature. The cast includes Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson, Archie Renaux, Isabela Merced, and Spike Fearn.

Originally planned for a streaming release on Hulu, the studio shifted Romulus to a theatrical release at the beginning of principal photography.

Meanwhile, Deadpool & Wolverine is bumped to the second spot after dominating for three consecutive weekends. However, the Marvel and Disney film has no reason to feel down; it has broken numerous records and now ranks as the top-grossing R-rated film of all time globally, unadjusted for inflation.

Directed by Shawn Levy and starring Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, Deadpool & Wolverine achieved a major milestone on August 15 by surpassing Joker with a global tally reaching $1.086 billion.

This weekend, the film is expected to earn another $27 million to $28 million, bringing its domestic total close to $545 million.

Coming in third place in its second weekend is Sony and Wayfarer Studios’ adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s best-selling novel, It Ends With Us. Starring Blake Lively, the film is projected to earn between $24 million and $26 million, bringing its domestic total to nearly $100 million by Sunday.

During its first week, the film garnered $73.7 million, marking the best performance of the year so far for a non-sequel. It continues to see strong repeat business despite an ongoing social media controversy involving Lively and co-star/director Justin Baldoni, who has retained a veteran PR crisis manager.

Universal’s Twisters is expected to take the fourth spot, now also available on premium VOD. Following closely is the 15th-anniversary re-release of Focus Features’ stop-motion classic, Coraline. Handled by Fathom Events, the re-release earned $5.8 million from Thursday and Friday showings alone.

Figures will be updated on Sunday morning.

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