The Xenomorph in Alien: Earth snarling with drool dripping down, crouched on top of a box.Image via FX on Hulu
With box-office ceilings having dropped in recent years, movies that would have been expected to gross $1 billion worldwide now tap out at around $800 million. The biggest impact of this recession was felt by films such as Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Jurassic World Rebirth, which fell short of their respective predecessors by around 20%. However, a couple of years ago, one sci-fi movie exceeded expectations and delivered the second-biggest worldwide haul of its franchise. The movie not only proved to be a major box office hit, but has also done very well on home video. This streak continued recently, when it debuted on HBO Max in several overseas markets and promptly claimed the streamer’s global viewership crown.
The movie featured a cast including a handful of future stars such as Isabela Merced, Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson, and others. It also served as something of a comeback for its director, who was coming off a failed franchise reboot — The Girl in the Spider’s Web. The movie in question earned positive reviews and was praised for returning the franchise to its horror roots. The franchise was launched over four decades ago by Ridley Scott, who served as one of the producers on the new film. Scott has maintained control of the franchise’s creative direction, having previously worked for several years on a new installment with District 9 director Neill Blomkamp set to helm. However, that project fell apart, and Blomkamp didn’t have the warmest words for his experience.
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Here’s the Sci-Fi Hit That Saved a Franchise in 2024
The movie in question, of course, is Fede Álvarez’s Alien: Romulus, which resurrected the long-running Alien franchise after Scott’s Alien: Covenant underperformed in 2017. Romulus grossed $350 million at the worldwide box office in 2024, and was followed by Noah Hawley‘s acclaimed Hulu series Alien: Earth in 2025. A sequel to Romulus is in the works, although Álvarez has said that he will not return. Romulus earned mostly positive reviews and is now sitting at a “Certified Fresh” 80% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. The website’s consensus reads, “Honoring its nightmarish predecessors while chestbursting at the seams with new frights of its own, Romulus injects some fresh acid blood into one of cinema’s great horror franchises.” Romulus made it to the number one spot on HBO Max before dropping down to a still respectable number five on the global HBO Max charts.
Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
Release Date
August 16, 2024
Runtime
119 Minutes
Director
Fede Alvarez