Romulus’ Could Continue Disney’s Summer Box Office Streak

“Alien: Romulus” is expected to rip into the box office with $28 million to $38 million in its first weekend of release. Rivals and independent tracking services are bullish on Disney and 20th Century’s sci-fi sequel, though, believing that inaugural ticket sales could wind up closer to $40 million or $50 million.

Should those loftier projections hold, “Alien: Romulus” will continue Disney’s stellar summer streak which ignited with “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” (May’s highest grossing movie with $397 million), “Inside Out 2” (June’s highest grossing movie with $1.59 billion) and continued through “Deadpool & Wolverine” (July’s highest grossing movie with $1.03 billion). By August, the studio became the first of 2024 to surpass $3 billion in worldwide ticket sales. Disney has “Moana 2” (Nov. 27) and “Mufasa: The Lion King” (Dec. 20) on the calendar through year’s end.

“Alien: Romulus” is the only new release of the weekend since Kevin Costner’s “Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 2” (originally dated for Aug. 16) was taken off the calendar. “Chapter 1,” which cost $100 million, misfired in June with a dismal $32 million globally, prompting its backers to halt plans for the sequel’s release.

While “Alien: Romulus” should easily cinch the No. 1 spot, it may be a close race between “Deadpool & Wolverine” and “It Ends With Us” for second place on domestic box office charts. The Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman-led “Deadpool & Wolverine” is aiming to add $25 million to $27 million in its fourth weekend of release. Marvel’s superhero adventure recently passed the $1 billion mark globally and will soon surpass 2019’s “Joker” ($1.07 billion) as the highest grossing R-rated movie in history. Meanwhile, “It Ends With Us” is poised for another big weekend after scoring a huge $50 million in its debut. The literary adaptation, starring Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni (who also directed), is expected to collect $23 million to $28 million in its sophomore outing.

Disney originally commissioned “Alien: Romulus,” led by Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson and Isabela Merced, for Hulu but switched to theatrical before filming commenced. The gruesome, otherworldly adventure cost $80 million to produce before accounting for marketing efforts. It’s been seven years since the property’s prior installment, 2017’s “Alien: Covenant,” hit the big screen. That film, starring Michael Fassbender, opened to $36 million and ended its run with $74 million domestically and $240 million globally. “Prometheus,” which debuted to $51 million in 2012, is the highest-grossing chapter in the series with $126 million domestically and $403 million globally.

Fede Alvarez (“Don’t Breathe”) directed “Alien Romulus,” the seventh entry in the sci-fi horror franchise that began in 1979 with Ridley Scott‘s “Alien.” Set between the events of that film and the 1986 sequel “Aliens,” the newest installment follows a group of young intergalactic colonists who come face to face with a terrifying life form while they’re scavenging a rundown space station.