‘Alien Romulus’ Global Box Office Passes Ridley Scott & James Cameron’s Franchise Entries

Call it a sequel, a prequel, a reboot, or even an “interquel;” it’s up in the air. But you can definitely call it a hit. Despite suffering a hefty drop in its second weekend of release domestically, Alien: Romuluspassed an important global box office milestone. Directed by Fede Álvarez, the movie serves as a sequel to Ridley Scott’s seminal original film, Alien, and a prequel to James Cameron’s equally beloved follow-up, Aliens. Having been released decades after those films, Alien: Romulus has now overtaken their lifetime global hauls.

The movie grossed around $16 million in its second weekend at the domestic box office and another $41 million from overseas markets. This takes its running domestic haul to $72 million, and its total overseas revenue to $152 million. Alien: Romulus has now grossed a cumulative global total of $225 million, and still has several overseas markets left to open. Produced on a reported budget of around $80 million, the movie, in one fell swoop, passed Alien’s $186 million global haul, Aliens’ $183 million global haul, and also the $158 million lifetime global haul of David Fincher’s divisive Alien 3. It should be noted that in 2024 dollars, all three films would’ve earned significantly more.

This weekend, Alien: Romulus also overtook Alien: Resurrection’s $160 million lifetime haul, and the $172 million worldwide total of AVP: Alien Vs. Predator. In just a few days, the film will also shoot past the $238 million that Alien: Covenant concluded its theatrical run with, cementing itself as the second-biggest installment in the long-running science-fiction franchise’s history. The top-grossing Alien movie — both domestically and worldwide — remains Prometheus. Also directed by Scott, the film grossed around $125 million domestically, and just over $400 million worldwide in 2012.

The ‘Alien’ Franchise Has Grossed Just Under $2 Billion Worldwide

Alien: Romulus debuted to mostly positive reviews — it holds an 80% “fresh” rating on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. It has also earned an 86% audience score on RT, and a B+ CinemaScore from opening day audiences. In his review, Collider’s Ross Bonaime wrote that the film “has a promising beginning and end,” but criticized the middle portion for being too nostalgia-driven Starring Cailee Spaeny, Isabela Merced, David Jonsson and Archie Renaux, Alien: Romulus is playing in theaters. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates and grab your tickets below.

Get Tickets