SATURDAY AM UPDATE: 20th Century Studios' new movie Alien: Romulus, directed by Fede Alvarez, is still looking at the second-biggest opening for the 45-year-old series. It's expected to make $40M-$42M this weekend after earning $18M on Friday. Disney is happy to be in second place with Deadpool & Wolverine making $27M in its fourth weekend, down 50%. Sony/Wayfarer Studios' It Ends With Us is in third place with $24M, down 52%.
It's a great late summer weekend in August, with total earnings of $136.6M. That's 36% more than the same weekend last year, and 13% more than the same pre-Covid weekend in 2019.
Alien: Romulus is expected to drop 23% today from its Friday/preview numbers, which is similar to what Alien: Covenant, the previous movie, did in 2017. Alien: Romulus got a B+ CinemaScore, which is better than Alien: Covenant's B, but not as good as the series' best, James Cameron's 1986 Aliens, which got an A. Still, it's not bad.
PLF and Imax screens are making up 52% of ticket sales so far. The audience is mostly men (70%), with people aged 25-34 being the biggest group at 33%. 60% of viewers are aged 18-34. The audience mix is 43% White, 26% Latino and Hispanic, 14% Black, 12% Asian, and 6% Native American/Other. Alien: Romulus is doing best in the West, Mountain, and South Central regions. The AMC Lincoln Square in New York is the highest-earning theater in the country, making almost $70K so far.
Social media tracker RelishMix counts 246.8M followers across TikTok, Facebook, X, YouTube, and Instagram for Alien: Romulus. This is 12% more than other action sci-fi movies, but less than Alien: Covenant's 352M followers. Cast members with big social media followings are Isabela Merced with 5.7M fans, Archie Renaux with 576K, and Cailee Spaeny with 393K. Even though the movie is doing well, RelishMix noticed mixed comments before it opened. Some positive comments were about fans respecting Alvarez for "honoring the legacy of the original two Alien films." People said things like, "Fede Alvarez understood the assignment," and "I am actually interested in this and how it adds to the existing mystery of Alien." Others liked how the trailer looked, saying, "The use of what looks like a lot of real effects is amazing," and "Dark and scary, can't wait!"
The best opening for an Alien movie was Ridley Scott's 2012 Prometheus, which made $21.4M on its first day (including previews) and $51M in its first three days. Some negative comments that RelishMix saw were from people upset that Scott wasn't finishing his Prometheus trilogy.
Alvarez told us on Crew Call that he pitched his idea for Alien to former ScottFree executive Michael Schaeffer after Neill Blomkamp's version, which would have brought back Sigourney Weaver as Ripley, didn't happen.
Top 10 chart:
1.) Alien: Romulus (20th/Dis) 3,885 theaters, Fri $18M, 3-day $40M-$42M/Wk 1
2.) Deadpool & Wolverine (Dis) 3,960 (-370) theaters, Fri $8.1M (-48%) 3-day $27M (-50%), Total $543.8M/Wk 4
3.) It Ends With Us (Sony) 3,739 (+128) theaters, Fri $7.7M (-68%) 3-day $24M (-52%), Total $97.7M/Wk 2
4.) Twisters (Uni/WB) 3,483 (-181) theaters, $2.75M (-39%), 3-day $9.2M (-39%), Total $237.8M/Wk 5
5.) Coraline (Fath) 1,535 theaters, Fri $2.69M 3-day $8.3M, Total $11.4M/Wk 1
6.) Despicable Me 4 (Uni) 2,788 (-221) theaters, Fri $1.57M (-39%) 3-day $5.5M (-31%), Total $339.9M/Wk 7
7.) Trap (WB) 3,181 theaters, Fri $1M (-51%) 3-day $3.25M (-51%), Total $35M/Wk 3
8.) Inside Out 2 (Dis) 1,850 (-350) theaters Fri $820K (-47%) 3-day $2.9M (-40%) Total $641.8M/Wk 10
9.) Borderlands (LG) 3,125 theaters, Fri $680K (-83%), 3-day $2.2M (-74%), Total $13.3M/Wk 2
10.) Stree 2 (Parth) 666 theaters, Fri $600K, 3-day $2M, Total $2.4M/Wk 1
FRIDAY MIDDAY UPDATE: 20th Century Studios/Disney's Alien: Romulus, directed by Fede Alvarez, is heading for a $40M+ opening at 3,885 theaters in first place. It's expected to make $18.5M+ on Friday, including preview showings. Screen Engine/Comscore PostTrak audience ratings last night were good, with 82% positive, 4 stars, and 65% saying they would definitely recommend it. The biggest opening for an Alien movie is still the 2012 Ridley Scott prequel Prometheus at $51M.
Fans who showed up were 71% men, with 54% over 25. The 18-34 age group made up 54% of the audience. Even though the cast includes younger actors like Isabel Merced, Cailey Spaeny, and David Jonsson, 74% of the audience was over 25.
Next is Marvel Studios/Disney's Deadpool & Wolverine in its fourth weekend at 3,960 locations. It's expected to make $27M-$29M after a $8.5M Friday. At the high end, the Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman movie could reach $545.7M by Sunday.
Third place goes to Sony/Wayfarer Studios' It Ends With Us at 3,739 sites in its second Friday.
$7.5M and second weekend at $23M, -54%. This could get better over the weekend; some think the movie might get closer to D&W 3-day take. Total by Sunday is $96.7M.
The fifth weekend of Twisters from Universal/Warner Bros at 3,483 theaters is looking at $2.5M today for an $8.4M 3-day, -44% and total of $237M.
Fifth is Fathom's 15th anniversary showing of Coraline at 1,523 theaters with $2.2M today, $7.3M for the 3-day and $10.4M for the four-day. The Focus Features movie opened to $16.8M in February 2009, and made $82.4M in the US.
FRIDAY AM UPDATE: Alien: Romulus started well with $6.5M previews. Critics and audience scores are still high on Rotten Tomatoes at 82% and 88% for the Fede Alvarez directed movie of the Ridley Scott production.
Comparing to other movies, Alien: Romulus is close to A Quiet Place: Part Two ($6.7M previews, $52M opening), Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes ($6.6M, $58M opening), and Bad Boys: Ride or Die ($6.1M, $57M). This Cailee Spaeny starring movie, which happens between Alien and Aliens, is expected to open to $40M+ in first place. This shows it's a great late summer hit that can take us into September before Warner Bros' Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice comes out. The movie is in 3,885 theaters, including 400 Imax, 900 PLFs, 275 D-Box/4D motion screens and 90 ScreenX places.
Blake Lively won at the daily box office again for the fourth time this week over Ryan Reynolds; It Ends With Us making $4.9M to Deadpool & Wolverine's $4.56M on Thursday. It Ends With Us had the highest seven-day take for a non-sequel this year with $73.7M. D&W's total is now $516.7M. The Shawn Levy directed movie is expected to make another $30M this weekend. It Ends With Us might hold with around $22M, maybe more.
Fathom's showing of Coraline at 1,570 theaters made $3.1M yesterday. Universal's Twisters, which you can already buy or rent digitally, made $1.3M at 3,664 theaters, -7% from Wednesday, for a fourth week take of $21.3M and total of $228.6M.
Fifth was Uni's Illumination Despicable Me 4 at 3,009 with a sixth week take of $12.2M, total of $334.4M after a $878K Thursday, -6% from Wednesday.
Lionsgate's very expensive $110M-$120M failure Borderlands ends its first week with $11.1M after a $416K Thursday, -22%.
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