Alien Romulus may beat box office record held by franchise’s most divisive movie

The upcoming Alien: Romulus is already making waves for its box office projections, and it may shatter a record held by the most divisive Alien movie to date.

Alien: Romulus is taking the storied space horror franchise back to its roots. Set between the genre-defining duology of Alien and Aliens, Romulus sees the crew of a wayward ship attacked by Xenomorphs.

Romulus is set to also make box office history, at least for the historically flagging Alien franchise. While early entries raked in cash thanks to comparatively low budgets, later installments suffered from diminishing returns as costs skyrocketed.

With a budget in the $80 million range and some projections estimating it could make as much as $40-50 million in its opening weekend (though Variety predicts a more modest $28-38m opening), Romulus could beat the $51 million record set by the incredibly divisive Prometheus.

Released in 2012, Prometheus is the current earliest point in the Alien saga. The film follows a crew of explorers and attempts to establish the origins of the terrifying Xenomorphs.

Prometheus was a surprise hit when it was released. By this time, the Alien franchise had taken a hit in popularity. The last stand-alone movie was Alien: Resurrection, with the Xenomorphs only appearing in the two Alien vs. Predator films in between.

But fans were clearly hungry for more. Prometheus, made on a budget of $120-130 million (the highest to date for the Alien franchise), raked in a staggering $403 million worldwide.

It’s the 17th highest-grossing film of 2012, which is an impressive feat when the competition is heavy hitters like The Avengers, Skyfall, The Dark Knight Rises, and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

While Romulus may struggle to break that all-time grossing record given the current state of the box office, it could surpass its opening weekend.

If the positive word of mouth surrounding Romulus continues, there’s a chance it could take the crown.

For more on the Alien franchise, we’ve covered the potential return for Sigourney Weaver and the controversy surrounding Ian Holm’s appearance. Or read all about the horrifying original ending to Alien.