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In a tight box office race, Ridley Scott’s Prometheus sequel/Alien prequel, Alien: Covenant, squeaked past Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 to take the box office crown despite a debut slightly under expectations. Meanwhile, teen drama Everything, Everything enjoyed a solid opening, and Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul paled in comparison to its predecessors.
Anticipation was there for Ridley Scott’s third round in the Alien universe, and despite a number one opening, it is hard to be too excited about a $36.1 million opening for the Prometheus follow-up. Prometheus certainly ‘alienated’ some fans of the original films, and so Scott proceeded with a film the finally reintroduced the classic alien back into the series. Covenant has earned solid reviews that are on par with Prometheus, but opening night audiences only gave it a ‘B’ Cinemascore. To put this into perspective, Covenant opened to a lot less than Prometheus‘ $51m. In fact, the film opened even less than 2004’s spinoff Alien vs. Predator ($38m). Worldwide the film has earned $118m, so far, against a $97m production budget.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 held strong in its third weekend, dropping only 47% to $34.6 million for a $301.3 running total. While $400m is not likely at this point, it will outgross the original’s $334m very soon. So far, the sequel has earned $732m worldwide.
Other openers included Everything, Everything, which found a sizable audience this weekend. The drama earned $11.7 million for Warner Bros. and MGM, powered by a sizable female audience (making up 82% of ticket sales) and a great ‘A-‘ Cinemascore. The $10m-budgeted production may end up as a very profitable sleeper hit this season.
Finally, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul suffered a disappointing debut of a $7 million, a far comedown from the previous three (THREE?!) entries. The previous trilogy opened each consecutive year starting in 2010 and enjoyed opening weekends in the $14m-23m range. The Long Haul is a reboot of the franchise with new actors and opened after a five-year hiatus from the last installment. If Memorial Weekend doesn’t provide a decent hold, the $22m-budgeted production could be in trouble.
Next weekend, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, allegedly the final installment of the franchise, opens against Dwayne Johnson’s comedic muscles in Baywatch.
Source: Box Office Mojo
Image: 20th Century Fox
