20th Century’s “Alien: Romulus” is helping the August box office stay strong with $6.5 million grossed from 3,885 theaters in Thursday previews.
That result tops the $4.2 million preview total that the last film in the storied horror series, “Alien: Covenant,” earned in 2017. The film had projections for a $30 million-plus opening, but based on Thursday preview comps is very likely to top $40 million.
Among fellow summer 2024 releases, “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” and “Bad Boys: Ride or Die” opened to similar preview totals with $6.6 million and $6.1 million respectively, and both cleared $50 million in their opening weekends. “Alien: Romulus” may not get there due to its gory, chestbursting, R-rated nature, but it is still looking like it will earn a healthy start against its $80 million budget that can top the $36 million start of “Covenant.”
Elsewhere, Sony’s “It Ends With Us,” made $4.9 million on Thursday, edging out Marvel Studios’ “Deadpool & Wolverine” with $4.5 million. “It Ends With Us” has $73.7 million after one week in theaters, while “Deadpool & Wolverine” has a $514 million domestic total after three weeks.
