Alien: Romulus Bursts Into The Box Office With $108 Million Debut

Face-hugs all round: it’s been a good weekend for Alien at the global box office. The sci-fi horror franchise burst back to life this year with Fede Alvarez’s Alien: Romulus, the first film in the series since 2017’s Ridley Scott-directed Alien: Covenant, this time with a somewhat back-to-basics approach – scared space-colonists battling hordes of Xenomorphs on a hellish space station, with chest-bursting, acid-dripping, monster-birthing results. That approach put bums in seats across the world – since Romulus’ opening weekend came in at $108 million worldwide. Not bad for a film that was originally slated for Disney+.

In the US, Romulus pulled in $41.5 million in ticket sales, and it fared well internationally too – it earned $66.7 million elsewhere around the world, with a major whack coming in from China ($25.7 million). It also hit #1 at the UK and Ireland box office, earning £3.74 million (or, $4.84 million) across the weekend. The film’s budget reportedly totalled at around $80 million, so there’s a way to go yet for costs to be fully recovered, once marketing is taken into account – but it’s a strong start. Stay tuned to see if Romulus displays long, gangly Xenomorph legs in the coming weeks.

Led by Priscilla star Cailee Spaeny, Alien: Romulus is both directed and written by Alvarez, from a script he wrote with Rodo Sayagues. And since the Predator franchise is in similarly rude health right now following Dan Trachtenberg’s acclaimed Prey in 2022 (that one did go straight to Disney+, so no box office numbers there), it seems cinema’s greatest intergalactic nightmare creatures are both alive and well. Alien Vs. Predator redux, anyone?