Why Did the ‘Alien’ Re-Release Do So Well at the Box Office?
By Space Coast Daily // August 7, 2024
April brought some surprising entries when you look at the box office charts. Alien, coming up to its 45th anniversary, was re-released, and it led to some interesting numbers. Alien is quite possibly one of the most influential sci-fi movies to ever be released.
Even though the budget for the movie only stood at $10 million, it managed to generate $200 million at the box office. That’s not including any money that came from merchandise sales, either. Since then, it’s been remastered in 4K UHD, with fans clambering to watch the movie in a more modern and engrossing way.
Alien Themes in the Media
It’s evident to see that people love alien movies. From War of the Worlds to Super 8 and Star Trek, it’s been a common theme in modern media. It’s also a huge theme in games, too. If you’ve ever played Slingo games at Paddy Power, you’ll notice numerous titles based on the alien theme. This includes Slingo’s Cosmic Clusters and Slingo Space Invaders.
These games touch on galaxies far, far away, as well as alien invaders. There are even games based wholly on the Alien franchise, such as Alien: Isolation, which have been hugely successful over the years. The re-release of Alien comes ahead of the sequel to the movie, Alien: Romulus. This takes the franchise back to a claustrophobic approach, with the movie set between Alien and Aliens. So that brings about the question, why did Alien do so well at the box office in 2024?
Alien’s Performance at the Box Office
Alien did great at the box office. It landed in the tenth position, having generated $600,000. It falls behind Dune Part Two. One reason why the movie did so well is that fans have followed the franchise for years, and the chance to see it how it was originally intended, in a pitch-black cinema with the volume turned right up, is just what fans wanted. Die-hard fans loved the fact that the movie was being remastered in 4K, not to mention that it also helped to provide a new viewing experience as a whole.
With Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes also coming out at the cinema, it’s safe to say that the era we are in right now is a sci-fi lover’s dream. Special effects are better than ever and more complex movies are being made. With that being said, there are also classical movies being brought back and when you look at how successful they are, it wouldn’t be surprising to see other movies follow the same path.
Sci-Fi’s Strength
This could include other movies from the Alien franchise, specifically Aliens, as this could trigger more viewings for the upcoming blockbuster. With Aliens being such a successful movie at the time of its release, it’s amazing to see that fans are still coming through. Nobody quite expected the re-release to do so well, but it’s another sign that sci-fi is very much alive and kicking. It’s a genre with still so much to explore, with exciting worlds yet to be touched on.
