Disney's latest sci-fi horror installment, "Alien: Romulus," has made an impressive impact at the domestic box office, earning a whopping $41.5 million in its opening weekend. This marks the second-highest start in the long-running "Alien" franchise, dethroning the three-week reign of "Deadpool & Wolverine." The success of "Alien: Romulus" adds to Disney's already stellar summer streak, following the box office successes of "Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes," "Inside Out 2," and "Deadpool & Wolverine."

Directed by Fede Alvarez, the seventh installment in the renowned franchise follows a group of young intergalactic colonists who encounter a terrifying life form while scavenging a rundown space station. With a compelling storyline and high-quality creature filmmaking, "Alien: Romulus" has been praised by both critics and audiences, receiving an 82% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a "B+" grade on CinemaScore.

The film's global start amounted to an impressive $108.2 million, with $66.7 million generated from international box office sales. The success of "Alien: Romulus" further cements Disney's dominance in the film industry. Earlier this month, the studio became the first of 2024 to surpass $3 billion in worldwide ticket sales, and with upcoming releases such as "Moana 2" and "Mufasa: The Lion King," Disney is expected to continue padding its total.

David A. Gross, who runs the movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research, commented on the film's performance, stating, "This is an excellent opening for a film this deep into its series. In 1979, the first film elevated the quality of creature filmmaking. 45 years later, the story still resonates. This is elite and impressive business."

Despite facing competition from holdover titles, "Alien: Romulus" managed to outperform previous films in the franchise upon their respective openings. Although it fell short of surpassing 2012's "Prometheus," which had the highest inaugural ticket sales of the series, "Alien: Romulus" still demonstrated its box office power.

Other films in the market faced mixed results. Sony's "It Ends With Us" retained its strong performance, earning $24 million in its second weekend, nearing the $100 million mark domestically with $97.7 million to date. Meanwhile, Universal's "Twisters" experienced a slight drop of 35% in its fifth weekend, bringing its total to an impressive $238.4 million in North America.

However, not all films fared well at the box office. Lionsgate's "Borderlands," a video game adaptation starring Cate Blanchett and Kevin Hart, plummeted to ninth place in its second weekend, earning a disappointing $2.35 million. With a production cost of $115 million, the film has struggled to attract audiences and is considered one of the year's biggest misfires in theaters.

Overall, Disney's "Alien: Romulus" has proven to be a box office triumph, adding to the studio's spectacular summer streak. With its strong opening and positive critical reception, the film is expected to continue its successful theatrical run in the coming weeks.