Alien: Romulus Crosses Major Box Office Milestone After Disney Originally Planned Hulu Release

Disney's potential streaming release has made more than $330 million at the box office.

By Charlie Ridgely

Remember when Prey was released directly to Hulu and went on to become one of the most beloved entries in the Predator franchise? There have been so many questions as to why Disney and 20th Century Studios didn't toss that movie in a theaters, especially since the love from both fans and critics suggests it would've actually made some money at the box office. Well, it seems Disney learned from that mistake with Predator's sister franchise, Alien.

Fede Alvarez's Alien: Romulus has been a return to form for the Alien franchise, throwing it back to the horror roots of Ridley Scott's original. The box office performance and critical reception have also been huge wins for the series in this new entry. Over the weekend, Alien: Romulus crossed the $100 million mark at the domestic box office, proving just how much life there is in sci-fi and horror films like these.

Romulus is just the second Alien movie to cross that threshold in North America, following 2012's Prometheus. Across the globe, Romulus has made more than $330 million, which is good enough for the second-best performance for any film in the franchise (once again trailing only Prometheus).

Had it been released directly on Hulu, Alien: Romulus would've made $0 at the box office.

Another Alien on the Way?

Given this fantastic box office performance, Alien fans will obviously be wondering if Romulus has opened the door for another entry into the franchise.

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Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter recently, Alvarez was asked about a potential Romulus sequel. While it wasn't on the forefront of his mind during the film, he definitely thought about ways the story could be extended after the fact.

"Yes, I definitely can. We tend to do that naturally, not even thinking about sequels. For us, movies have not become franchises, tentpoles, and sequels," the director said. "This is a language that I've only learned in the last ten years of my life working here. For me, it's always been about story. So, once we finished, we started thinking, 'What do you think happens when or if they get to your Yvaga? Is it going to be great? Or is it a terrible place?' We tend to believe it's probably a terrible place that they think is great and fantasize about, so we naturally started thinking about where it goes and what's going to happen. And then, a few minutes in, we go, 'Oh, that sounds like a sequel.'

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