[Itse]

Originally Posted by OutOfTheCube

I just don’t get how after 30 years of diminishing returns they’re still trying to make Predator, Alien, and Terminator movies. Like maybe if your bad movies were making tons of money I would get it, but even that isn’t happening.

Nah. First, Prey is a looking like a hit, at least relative to budget and expectations.

Spoiler!

Audience viewership
According to 20th Century Studios, Prey was the most-watched premiere across all films and television series on Hulu in the United States, as well as the most-watched film premiere on Star in international markets, and on Star+ in Latin America.

Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 92% of 205 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.6/10. The website's consensus reads, "The rare action thriller that spikes adrenaline without skimping on character development, Prey is a Predator sequel done right." Metacritic gave the film a weighted average score of 71 out of 100, based on 40 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". It is the highest-rated Predator film on both websites.

Predator was never a blockbusting box office franchise, but it is a very bankable mid-budget scifi-horror franchise. The last two films before Prey made about 300M on a combined 130M budget. Alien films are also mostly reliable mid-budget money makers. Prometheus was somewhat of a hit even. Terminators are somewhat more expensive movies, but they also fairly reliably make money. Genisys made 440M on a budget of 150M.

More importantly though: none of these franchises are simply about the box office. Terminator, Alien and Predator all bring in a steady stream of merchandising profit, and every movie released helps keep those IP's relevant and profitable. Franchises like these also bring in steady revenue from TV and streaming.