‘Alien’ occupies prime space
Ridley Scott’s new film is the weekend’s top draw. ‘Everything’ meets projections.
Estimates show a film franchise’s new offering topping the “Guardians” sequel at the box office.
After almost 40 years, audiences are still interested in the “Alien” universe.
This past weekend, Ridley Scott’s “Alien: Covenant,” from 20th Century Fox, dethroned Disney’s “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2,” which had topped the box office for two straight weeks. Meanwhile, Warner Bros.’ “Everything, Everything” and Fox’s” “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” sequel battled for those not interested in Rrated scares.
“Alien” took in an estimated $36 million in the U.S. and Canada, coming in below analyst projections of $40 million to $50 million. Internationally, the picture pulled $30.3 million over the weekend after already opening in territories across the globe. Its worldwide take is at $117.8 million.
“It does endure the test of time,” said Chris Aronson, 20th Century Fox’s head of distribution, “as does Sir Ridley Scott.”
The latest in the aging franchise is the eighth film, counting two widely panned “Alien vs. Predator” movies. It’s also a sequel to 2012’s “Prometheus,” a heady quasi-prequel to the original 1979 “Alien.” Though the film has an admittedly confusing timeline, the studio was able to drum up interest among core “Alien” fans with gruesome marketing and generally positive reviews. It may also help that the famous creatures designed by surrealist H.R. Giger — the xenomorphs and facehuggers — that “Prometheus” lacked, because of its origin-of-man back story, were reintroduced.
Audiences (62% male; 66% 25 and older; 51% white) gave the picture a B CinemaScore, while critics averaged a 73% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
“Alien: Covenant” performed worse than its 2012 predecessor, which brought in $51 million in its debut. That film ended up collecting $400 million worldwide. But considering the studio saved more than 25% in production costs this go-round, with a $97-million price tag, “Covenant’s” profitability still looks promising.
Falling to second place in its third weekend was “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” with a still-impressive $35.1 million. It has pulled in $301.8 million domestically for a global tally of more than $732 million.
Performing the best of the other new releases was “Everything, Everything,” which took in $12 million. The Warner Bros. and MGM movie directed by Stella Meghie met analyst projections of a $10-million to $12million opening, a respectable debut for a film that cost $10 million to make.
A young-adult tearjerker, “Everything, Everything” is about a teen girl who’s sealed off from the world because she has a severe immune system disease. But when she falls for the guy next door, through text messages and windowpane conversations, she risks it all. Adapted from Nicola Yoon’s bestselling YA novel of the same name, it stars Amandla Stenberg (“The Hunger Games”), Nick Robinson (“Jurassic World”) and Anika Noni Rose.
Audiences and critics appear split over the drama. Though moviegoers gave it an A-minus, the film has an average 43% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Landing in fourth was Amy Schumer’s “Snatched,” from Fox. In its second week, the poorly reviewed motherdaughter comedy, also starring Goldie Hawn, pulled in $7.6 million. It has grossed $32.8 million domestically.
“Diary of A Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul” took fifth in its debut with $7.2 million, well below analyst projections of $12 million. Such a performance is also way below its 2012 predecessor’s $14-million debut and even more so compared with the 2010 original’s $22 million.
Granted, the film is the fourth in a series of live-action children’s book adaptations. But the family audience that was expected to show up didn’t. Those who did see the f lick gave it a B on CinemaScore.
Next week, Disney again is in the box-office conversation with the latest in its “Pirates of the Caribbean” series, “Dead Men Tell No Tales.”