Ridley Scott Sci-Fi Film Underperforms at Box Office, Tops PVOD Charts Ridley Scott's latest sci-fi film flopped in theaters but debuted as a top PVOD title at home. The movie, starring Jacob Elordi and Margaret Qualley, had a $100 million budget. 20th Century Studios overestimated the theatrical appeal of Ridley Scott's latest science fiction film, which has become one of the director's biggest box office disappointments. The movie, starring Jacob Elordi and Margaret Qualley, was produced on a reported budget of around $100 million. After a weak theatrical run, the film debuted on the premium video on demand market this past week and quickly became one of the most popular titles domestically, offering the legendary filmmaker hope that it will find an audience at home. Box Office Struggles for Scott Sci-Fi FilmThe film marked Scott's long-awaited return to the science fiction genre, but it drastically underperformed in theaters. The result stands out as a notable setback for a director with a long record of commercial success.Scott has delivered several hits in the roughly $100 million budget range. Among them is The Martian, his highest-grossing film to date, which demonstrated his ability to turn ambitious science fiction premises into broad audience successes.The theatrical shortfall places the new release alongside the director's less successful ventures, and 20th Century Studios clearly expected a stronger response from moviegoers given the film's cast and genre pedigree.Home Release Brings Optimistic Early SignsEarly signs from the home market are positive. The movie arrived on PVOD this past week and instantly emerged as one of the most popular titles domestically, suggesting that audiences who skipped the theatrical run may be catching up with it at home.That performance matters for a film produced on a reported budget of around $100 million. A strong PVOD showing can help offset theatrical losses and extend the commercial life of a release that struggled on the big screen.The shift toward home viewing also reflects broader patterns in how audiences discover mid-budget science fiction, particularly when theatrical marketing fails to convert curiosity into ticket sales.How Alien: Covenant ComparesScott's previous most recent science fiction movie, Alien: Covenant, was also produced on a reported budget of around $100 million. It ended up grossing around $240 million worldwide, a result that was deemed not robust enough to warrant a sequel at the time.That comparison offers useful context for the new film's prospects. Even a worldwide gross well above the production budget did not guarantee a follow-up in the Alien series, showing how demanding the economics of large-scale science fiction releases can be.For the new movie, the path forward depends less on matching such totals and more on whether home entertainment revenue can build a convincing case for the title's value.Alien Franchise Returns to Solid GroundScott is finally working on a follow-up to Alien: Covenant, now that the Alien franchise is on more solid ground. The renewed momentum follows the success of Fede Alvarez's horror-tinged hit Alien: Romulus and Noah Hawley's FX series Alien: Earth.Those projects have refreshed interest in the franchise and given Scott an opening to continue the story he began with Prometheus and Alien: Covenant. The director's return to the Alien universe is therefore moving ahead under better conditions than the ones that followed Covenant's release.Meanwhile, the new science fiction film's PVOD performance will be watched closely as a measure of Scott's continued draw with audiences, both in theaters and at home.