Disney/Marvel Studios’ ‘Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2’— as expected– fell to second place in its third week, facing off against Ridley Scott’s ‘Alien: Covenant’. But all isn’t so rosy for 20th Century Fox’s xenomorph-infested flick. ‘Covenant’ drew in the die-hard franchise fans but fell somewhat short of expectation. It was predicted to take in around $40 million, but it looks like, now that the dust has settled, it will actually earn $36M domestically. That puts it just barely ahead of ‘Guardians 2’ which made $35.1M… and that’s in its third week. This also falls short of the openings of ‘Prometheus‘ ($51M) and ‘Alien Vs.Predator’ ($38.3M).
However, the film has gotten not-too-bad reviews, ranking 73% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes and average moviegoers have given it a “B” via CinemaScore.
Fox attempted to entice viewers by focusing on the inclusion of the xenomorph aliens, something that many griped were too lacking in ‘Prometheus’. That may have helped somewhat, but it seems to have only drawn in hardcore fans. The average filmgoers, according to reports, are simply too confused about the series’ timeline– not knowing if this is a sequel, prequel, or whatever.
According to social media monitor Relish Mix:
“For the casual moviegoer, there remains sincere confusion over where the series is at this stage. Viewers are wondering if this is a Prometheus sequel, a prequel or some offshoot within the series that has nothing to do with the original characters like Ripley. Others still were wondering if the film was related to Interstellar because of the similarities in the musical score. And, comments specific to the ‘Crossing’ short, directed by Ridley Scott, express more confusion. Will this be part of the DVD extras as a deleted scene? Is it important to see this before Covenant — or after?”
(If you haven’t seen ‘The Crossing’ short, you can view it here.)
Things weren’t helped by the “wishy washy” information from Scott during the making of the film. Namely, whether this would be the further adventures of Noomi Repace’s Elizabeth Shaw and Michael Fassbender’s David. (Short answer: No to the first, yes to the second.) Fox and Scott had planned three more movies, then scaled back to two. The general consensus is that this ‘Alien’ film was too run-of-the-mill and doesn’t add much in terms of the brand’s mythology. It’s possible that Scott is building toward something bigger in the next two movies, but he doesn’t appear to be offering enough in THIS movie to entice viewers.
Here is the breakdown:
- Alien: Covenant (20th Century Fox) – $36
- Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 (Disney) – $35.1M
- Everything, Everything (Warner Brothers/MGM) – $12M
- Snatched (20th Century Fox) – $7.6M
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul (2oth Century Fox) – $7.2M
Judging simply by my own personal social media, I predict next weekend will belong to ‘Baywatch’ starring Dwayne Johnson and Zac Efron. ‘Snatched’, starring Amy Schumer and Goldie Hawn has done well against the typical summer super heroes and such, but definitely skews more female. ‘Baywatch’ will be the first big comedy of the summer that could appeal to men and women.
There is also ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales’ which could go either way. This brand may have built up enough fans to coast to high grosses. Or Disney could be beating a “Dead” horse with this tired shtick.
Check back to see how things pan out!
Source: Deadline
