Ridley Scott's thriller “Alien: Covenant” tops the weekend box office with $14.9 million from 3,670 theaters, beating out the record of “Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2,” which grossed $13.5 million from 35,63 theaters in the United States.
Ridley’s second installment in the “Alien” franchise cost Fox over $96 million in production and up to $12 million in marketing. Back in 2012, the first film “Prometheus” debuted to $52 million at the domestic box office.
“Alien: Covenant” has a cast led by Katherine Waterston, Michael Fassbender, and Billy Crudup.
No doubt, the film is breaking the records of Disney's “Guardians 2,” which stayed atop the chart for over almost fifteen days. The superhero prequel earned more than $8.2 million from Friday previews, and made over $32 million domestically and up to $710 million at the global box office.
‘Alien: Covenant’ blasts past ‘Guardians 2.'
On the other hand, MGM’s mega-budget film “Everything, Everything” is expected to place number 3 after “Guardians Volume 2” and “Alien: Covenant” with an approximate $11 million from 2,803 theaters. Based on a 2015 novel of the same name by Nicola Yoon, the film explores the life of a teenage girl who is unable to leave her house due to an immune disorder; the $10.2 million film targets young girls and boys.
The film features Nick Robinson and Amandla Stenberg as the lead actors. Fox is on a heavy duty this month in terms of opening two big movies, “Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul” and “Alien: Covenant.”
"The Long Haul” is based on a famous kids book of the same name, and projected to gross over $12 million from 3,510 theaters. The movie earns a “B” grade on CinemaScore and will target people between the ages of 22 and 35. “Long Haul” and “Snatched” are likely to gross up to $7.2 million in the opening weekend.
Critical response to the ‘Alien’ film
“Alien: Covenant” is a sequel to 2012 hit movie titled “Prometheus,” and the sixth installment in “Alien” film series. It premiered in London earlier this month and was released in the United States on May 19, 2017.
The movie has received positive comments from critics, with some of them praising the performance of Fassbender, while others are calling it an improved “Prometheus” film directed by Ridley Scott.
As of May 20, 2017, the film has grossed over $64 million at the global box office and is expected to earn $920 million in its theoretical run. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, “Alien: Covenant” has a rating of 72% based on 235 reviews, while Metacritic assigns it a score of 67 out of 100 based on 39 critics.
