Alien: Romulus is performing more or less within expectations at the North American box office. We had it pegged at making around $40 million this weekend, and early figures from Deadline reveal this is exactly the range the movie is opening at domestically, with it likely coming in between $40-42 million. But, what’s interesting is that the film is turning out to be an unexpected smash hit overseas, with it looking to open in the $60 million range, giving the horror sequel a $100 million plus international opening. Notably, the film is playing to killer business in China, with it looking at a $20 million plus opening in a year where American movies haven’t been scoring with audiences in that formerly ultra-profitable territory.

To note, Ridley Scott’s last two Alien movies, Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, both outperformed their domestic performance internationally, and Romulus seems primed to do the same. With a relatively lean $80 million budget, Fede Álvarez’s sequel seems primed to be a very profitable franchise instalment for Disney, with it now likely to get a follow-up.

Deadline also reports that the movie’s CinemaScore rating is quite good, earning a B+, which is a strong rating for a movie with horror elements baked in. It will easily take the top spot from Deadpool & Wolverine, which is still playing strongly on its way to a $27 million weekend and a domestic gross in the $540 million-plus range. Blake Lively’s It Ends With Us is also showing excellent staying power, with it likely only to drop in the 50% range this weekend for an estimated $23 million weekend. It should pass $100 million domestically by mid-week.

With Alien: Romulus performing so well, make sure to check out our Alien Movies ranked list and let us know where you think it falls in the saga. 

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