‘Alien: Romulus’ Solidifies Disney’s Box Office Rebound
‘Alien: Romulus’ Solidifies Disney’s Box Office Rebound - The New York Times
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‘Alien: Romulus’ Solidifies Disney’s Box Office Rebound
After struggling in recent years, Hollywood’s biggest movie company has now delivered four hits in a row, dominating the summer with a 42 percent market share.
“Alien: Romulus” was on pace to collect at least $40 million at theaters in the United States and Canada over the weekend, a strong total that solidified a turnaround at Disney’s movie division.
Disney’s seven movie factories — Marvel, Lucasfilm, Pixar, 20th Century, Searchlight Pictures, Disney Animation and Walt Disney Pictures — began to break down in 2021. They had been pushed too hard to make content for Disney’s streaming service. The pandemic added difficulties, resulting in a string of failures like “Jungle Cruise,” “Strange World,” “Lightyear,” “Haunted Mansion,” “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” “Nightmare Alley,” “The Marvels” and “Wish.”
Investors grew increasingly agitated, putting Robert A. Iger, Disney’s chief executive, and Alan Bergman, Disney’s top movie executive, under extreme pressure to deliver improved results. Movies carry unusual weight at the Walt Disney Company, which relies on them for much more than ticket revenue. At Disney, movies also power a vast consumer products division and underpin theme park attractions.
It certainly appears that Disney has regained its box office footing. So far this summer (from May 1 to Sunday), Disney films have accounted for 42 percent of total ticket sales in the United States and Canada, according to Box Office Mojo, a film database. Last summer, Disney had about a 27 percent market share.
With the successful release of “Alien: Romulus” (20th Century), the company has now delivered four consecutive hits. In May, Disney rolled out “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” a 20th Century movie that cost about $160 million to make and collected nearly $400 million worldwide. “Inside Out 2” (Pixar) arrived in June and has taken in $1.6 billion worldwide. In July, “Deadpool & Wolverine” (Marvel) set a record for the largest R-rated opening in Hollywood history, and has gone on to sell $1.1 billion in tickets.
“Moana 2” (Disney Animation) is expected to expand Disney’s run of hits to five when it arrives this fall. Analysts say that “Mufasa: The Lion King” (Walt Disney Pictures), scheduled for release in December, could be a sixth, followed by “Captain America: Brave New World” (Marvel) in February.
“Though it remains to be seen whether this summer’s successes mark a true and lasting return to form, looking ahead to the rest of this year and beyond sees a theatrical slate filled with highly dependable intellectual property,” Robert Fishman, an analyst at MoffettNathanson, a research firm, wrote in a report on Aug. 5.
The R-rated “Alien: Romulus,” which received mostly positive reviews, cost an estimated $80 million to make. An expansive ad campaign added tens of millions to the price. Overseas, “Romulus” was on pace to collect an additional $35 million, according to box office analysts. The movie focuses on a group of young space colonists who discover a derelict space station infested with a carnivorous, mucus-dripping life form.
To squeeze more dollars from the 45-year-old “Alien” franchise — “Romulus” was the seventh entry — producers turned to a new generation of talent. Fede Álvarez (“ Don’t Breathe”) directed “Romulus” from a script he wrote with Rodo Sayagues. The cast was led by Cailee Spaeny(“Civil War”).
Brooks Barnes covers all things Hollywood. He joined The New York Times in 2007 and previously worked at The Wall Street Journal. More about Brooks Barnes
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