- "Alien: Romulus" opens with $41.5M, topping North American box office
- Film earns $108.2M globally, with Disney dominating summer box office
- August box office sales exceed expectations, up 30% from last year
he latest addition to the iconic Alien franchise, Alien: Romulus, has launched into first place at the North American box office, earning an estimated $41.5 million during its opening weekend. The film, distributed by 20th Century Studios, was screened at 3,885 locations across the U.S. and Canada.
Globally, Alien: Romulus has accumulated $108.2 million, bolstered by $66.7 million from international markets spanning 49 countries. This strong international performance contributes to the film’s impressive global debut.
The Walt Disney Co., which owns 20th Century Studios, also claimed the second spot on the charts with Marvel’s Deadpool & Wolverine, which generated $29 million in its fourth weekend. Disney has significantly influenced the summer box office, accounting for approximately 42% of the season’s total revenue with successes such as Inside Out 2 and Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.
Despite August’s reputation for being a slow period for the movie industry, 2024 has seen a rebound. Recent hits like Deadpool & Wolverine and It Ends With Us have contributed to a notable increase in box office figures, with this August’s performance exceeding that of the same period last year by over 30%, and up more than 10% compared to August 2019.
“The summer started 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 between the events of Alien and Aliens and features a cast of emerging talent, including Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson, and Isabela Merced. The film retains the franchise’s horror roots, reflecting Álvarez’s background in the genre with films like Evil Dead and Don’t Breathe. The film has received mixed but generally positive reviews, holding an 81% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and audiences have given it a B+ CinemaScore.
In third place, It Ends With Us, a romantic drama starring Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni, earned $24 million in its second weekend, down 52% from its opening. The Sony film, adapted from Colleen Hoover’s bestselling novel, has grossed $97.8 million to date on a $25 million budget.
The film’s behind-the-scenes controversies have sparked significant social media buzz, though this has not detracted from its box office performance.
Twisters, now in its fifth weekend, came in fourth with $9.8 million from 3,483 theatres, bringing its total domestic earnings to over $238.4 million. Coraline, celebrating its 15th anniversary with a re-release, rounded out the top five with $11.3 million over four days, including $8.6 million from the weekend alone.
Other notable entries include Despicable Me 4 with $6 million, Trap at $3.4 million, Inside Out 2 earning $3.2 million, and Borderlands, which brought in $2.4 million in its second weekend, accumulating a total of $13.5 million against a $120 million budget. Stree 2 closed the top ten with $2.2 million.
Final domestic figures for the weekend will be released on Monday, as reported by Comscore.
