ALIEN: ROMULUS opening | International update | Where we are now | August 16 to 18, 2024 weekend
Opening weekend box office, charts and commentary
The current weekend: August 16 to 18, 2024
1) Alien: Romulus opening
- This is an excellent opening for a late-episode horror sequel. The weekend figure is well above average for a film this deep into its series, and it’s up on the last Alien’s start in 2017. Critics' reviews and audience scores are strong (a B+ CinemaScore).
A big part of Alien's success has been overseas. The longer-running horror series have done well abroad — you can see it below. Romulus will follow that pattern, but we also expect the foreign numbers to be off to some degree (more below):
- Alien is one of eight horror series that's generated nine films (we’re including two Alien vs. Predator titles). Only Halloween has opened bigger with its late sequels. In 1979, the first film elevated the quality of creature filmmaking, and it did it with a tough, well-drawn heroine. 45 years later, the story still resonates. This is elite and impressive business.
2) International update
- Since the pandemic started in early 2020, the share of foreign box office has declined for several genres, while it's remained stable for others, as follows:
Family moviegoing remains strong everywhere and shows no softness overseas compared with before the pandemic. The stories are understood equally well by kids across all cultures, and dubbing the voices into familiar local dialects makes for a seamless translation. No change here.
Inside Out 2 and Despicable Me 4 (above), 60% and 58.9% foreign BO, respectively — two magnificent worldwide animation juggernauts The big action spectacles — superheroes, sci-fi, adventures and thrillers — are down overseas compared with before the pandemic. Some of that comes from the decline of China and Russia as prime action markets.
Deadpool & Wolverine, a smash everywhere, around 52% foreign BO, off from pre-pandemic superhero levels Horror movies are also doing less foreign business since the pandemic, but that’s over-simplifying it. Many of the interesting, low-budget horror films invigorating the genre are independent productions that receive uneven international distribution — they pull the average down.
The big horror series still travel well abroad, and if you include a nun, a priest or the devil, they do especially well.
A Quiet Place: Day One, a horror hit, with 46.8% foreign BO — strong around the world
- We expect the foreign numbers to change further over the next year or so, as moviegoing normalizes. In the cases of action and horror films, we expect them to move closer to the pre-pandemic norm over time.
3) Where we are now
- Add Alien: Romulus to the list of successful summer sequels. It's the seventh since June, starting with Bad Boys, then Inside Out, A Quiet Place, Despicable Me, Twisters, and Deadpool. Whatever your personal taste in cinema, these productions are an absolute boon to the industry:
they pay a lot of bills, including a big piece of the overhead it takes to run the businesses, from the studios to the suppliers to the agencies;
they employ thousands of talented independent artists and craftspeople (Lord of the Rings: Return of the King’s end credits run 9 minutes 33 seconds, Matrix Revolutions’ credits list 701 names);
and they support filmmakers, producers and companies who can take bigger creative risks on their next project, which they couldn't do if the last production flopped.
- Alien is the last big sequel before Beetlejuice 2 on Sept 6 (The Crow reboot arrives next weekend). The franchise pics drove the summer box office, and it’s helped steady the industry after a volatile four and a half years.
