Following the release of Ridley Scott's Alien: Covenant this past Thursday - where the sequel to Prometheus from 2012 garnered $4.2 in preview night ticket sales alone - the movie has just secured the top spot at the Friday box office. Covenant's main competition was Marvel Studios adventure Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 - which has grossed over $600 million already as it heads into its third weekend in wide release. One of the two interstellar adventures certainly seems to destined to come out on top of the weekend box office over the course of the next few days.
Seeking to answer some major questions about the series' mythology, Alien: Covenant may redeem the franchise among fans who were left underwhelmed by Prometheus, which itself grossed an impressive $400 million worldwide. Nevertheless, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is a more than worthy adversary, even in the third weekend of its release.
According to The Wrap, Scott's latest science fiction film is coming out on top of the Friday box office after generating $15.2 million in ticket sales from 3,761 screens across the country, with an added $46.6 million already in the bank from overseas territories. If audiences continue to turn out at a similar rate through Saturday and Sunday, Alien: Covenant is expected to hit $40 million over the course of its opening weekend and attain the top spot over returning champion Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 took in $8.8 million over the course of its third Friday in theaters, and is expected to come in behind Alien: Covenant with $33 million total. In third place is the teen rom-com Everything, Everything with an expected $11 million opening weekend on a $10 million budget, followed by Snatched in fourth place at a $7.5 million total opening weekend and Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul in fifth place at a $7 million total opening weekend.
Considering the fact that Alien: Covenant will probably perform just under its immediate predecessor (Prometheus opened to $51 million in 2012) it will be doubly interesting to see if the latest Scott-directed Alien feature manages to maintain its momentum moving forward. There is already at least one - possibly even two - sequels to Covenant planned, so the pressure is on for this instalment to prove that audiences still love a good scary movie set in space. For the sake of Alien fans getting more answers to their biggest questions about the xenomorph, let's hope that Covenant's strong opening continues into a successful run in the coming weeks.
Alien: Covenant is currently showing in theaters.
Source: The Wrap