Alien: Romulus might be pumping some fresh blood into the franchise. Evil Dead‘s Fede Álvarez’s entry is collecting hype and showcases an 82% on Rotten Tomatoes with an 88% audience score. In the review from our EIC Chris Bumbray, he stated, “These added-on elements make Alien: Romulus more of a mixed bag than you’d think, but I hesitate to put any of the blame on Fede Alvarez. When he’s allowed to do his own thing, which seems to be the case for about three-quarters of the movie, it’s one of the best Alien movies ever. But, when he’s shoehorned in a bunch of tacked-on mythology, it starts to suffer. At any rate, it’s probably still the third-best movie of the franchise, and hopefully, it will lead to more films set in this world by Alvarez, who seems like a natural successor to Ridley Scott and James Cameron as far as this series goes.”
Deadline is reporting that the new xenomorph film has started a solid showing at the box office with Thursday previews totaling at $6.5 million. This opening is fairly comparable to other solid hits of the summer as it isn’t far from A Quiet Place: Part Two ( which got $6.7 million previews and a $52 million opening), Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (which received $6.6 million with a $58 million opening), and Bad Boys: Ride or Die (which previewed $6.1M on a $57 million opening). Alien: Romulus is expected to make around $40 million plus if its is to stay on this track.
This showing is especially poignant since the film was nearly dropped on Hulu like the Predator prequel film Prey. Fede Álvarez recently addressed making the jump onto the big screen. Álvarez said that the initial Hulu plan was “a reaction to theaters being completely gone” in the wake of the pandemic. “That decision was not made at the point where theaters were healthy,” Álvarez said. “[But] it was always going to be an ambitious movie for [a streaming] platform.” The studio made the choice to push for a theatrical release as production got underway, and Álvarez said it was a motivating moment for the entire cast and crew. “I remember making an announcement to everybody that this movie was going to in theaters, and there was a big cheer. I was like, wow, even the gaffer cares that this goes into theaters!”
Set between the events of Alien and Aliens, Alien: Romulus will follow “a group of young people on a distant world who find themselves in a confrontation with the most terrifying life form in the universe.” The film stars Cailee Spaeny (Priscilla), David Jonsson (Industry), Isabela Merced (Madame Web), Archie Renaux (Shadow and Bone), Spike Fearn (The Batman), and Aileen Wu (Away from Home). In addition to directing the movie, Fede Álvarez also co-wrote the script alongside Rodo Sayagues.
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