Predator: Badlands Box Office Outgrosses Predator 2 In One Weekend, Closes In On Original Movie

Predator: Badlands is already climbing the franchise’s all-time chart during its opening weekend. The movie is the ninth installment in the sci-fi franchise (including the two crossovers with the Alien franchise) and the seventh to be put out in theaters. 2025’s Predator: Badlands stars Elle Fanning as the Weyland-Yutani synthetic Thia, who goes on an adventure with an outcast Yautja named Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi).

Per Variety, as of Sunday morning, Predator: Badlands is expected to conclude its debut weekend with a 3-day global gross of $80 million, comprising $40 million at the domestic box office and another $40 million from international markets. This is more than enough for it to outgross the entire worldwide run of 1990’s Predator 2 ($54.8 million) in just three days, becoming the sixth highest-grossing movie in the franchise.

Additionally, it is less than $19 million away from outgrossing the original 1987 Predator ($98.3 million), which it should easily be able to do during its second weekend, if not by the end of its first full week in theaters. Below, see a full breakdown of the box office performance of the Predator movies, not adjusted for inflation:

It remains to be seen how high the Predator: Badlands release can climb before the end of its run. However, its projected $40 million domestic debut gives it the highest opening weekend of the franchise, so it is entirely possible it could eventually climb to the top of the overall franchise chart after its strong head start.

If it maintains its current trajectory ahead of the 2004 crossover AVP: Alien vs. Predator, which debuted with $38.3 million, Badlands could eventually hit a global total of roughly $185 million. However, given the fact that Predator: Badlands reviews have earned it a Certified Fresh 85% score on Rotten Tomatoes alongside its record-breaking A- CinemaScore (the best of the franchise), it could potentially surge considerably higher.

This would be a major boon for the movie, which has the highest reported budget of the entire franchise. Its price tag of $105 million is $17 million higher than the previous most expensive installment, which was the $88 million The Predator. It is also nearly six times higher than the $18 million budget of the original movie (though it is only over two times the inflation-adjusted budget of $51.5 million).

Because blockbuster movies often need to earn back two and a half times their budgets in order to break even in theaters, Predator: Badlands‘ estimated break-even point could be as high as $262.5 million. While this may still be outside its grasp, if it maintains its current momentum, it should be able to get close to that total and make up for the difference with VOD, streaming, and physical media revenue.

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