More than a month into its theatrical run and Alien: Romulus continues to be a dominant force at the box office. The latest film in the long-running franchise has continued to sell tickets week in and week out, even as other big hits such as Beetlejuice Beetlejuice have entered the marketplace. Audiences, in particular, have flocked to see the film in IMAX, so much so that it has set a new record becoming the biggest horror hit in the history of the format.
Director Fede Alvarez’s Romulus has now made $331 million worldwide, with $40 million of that coming from IMAX ticket sales. That’s good enough to make it the highest-grossing horror movie in IMAX history, the company recently announced (via Bloody Disgusting). To say that’s impressive would be a bit of an understatement. Romulus had already taken its place as the second-biggest Alien movie ever, trailing only Ridley Scott’s 2012 prequel Prometheus ($403 million worldwide). It now gets to stick another mighty impressive feather in its cap.
This film has bucked several trends associated with films in the pandemic era. For one, it avoided getting dumped directly to Hulu like the Predator prequel Prey, proving to Disney – and the industry at large – that theatrical releases are almost certainly the better way to go for most franchise entries. We’ve also seen that audiences are willing to shell out for premium format tickets, even though they’re generally more expensive. It’s just that horror isn’t often as much of a draw in IMAX compared to something like Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. Yet, here we are. Lastly, Romulus has made more than $100 million in China, which very few Hollywood films have done since the pandemic began.
All of this to say, the film’s hit status only grows increasingly impressive the more one looks at it. One thing that has become crystal clear is that the Alien franchise still has plenty of juice in the tank. Disney will undoubtedly make further entries in the series now, it’s just a matter of what direction they choose to take things. A direct sequel? Another spin-off? Who knows? Maybe Disney will let Alvarez take a crack at his pretty wild Alien vs. Predator concept. One can only hope.
The film stars Cailee Spaeny (Civil War), David Jonsson (Murder is Easy), Archie Renaux (Shadow and Bone), Isabela Merced (The Last of Us), Spike Fearn (Aftersun) and Aileen Wu in her feature debut. The synopsis reads as follows:
“ While scavenging the deep ends of a derelict space station, a group of young space colonizers come face to face with the most terrifying life form in the universe.”
Alien: Romulus is in theaters now. For more, check out the first teaser for the upcoming FX TV series Alien: Earth.
