The premiere of Prometheus took place on May 31, 2012, at the Empire cinema in Leicester Square, London.[125][180] The film was released in the United Kingdom on June 1, 2012,[121] and in North America on June 8, 2012.[82] It was simultaneously released in IMAX theaters and in 3D,[181] and it is encoded for D-Box motion seats that provide physical feedback to the audience during the film.[182]
Pre-release
In the United Kingdom, approximately £1 million ($1.6 million) of tickets were pre-sold.[183] 18,827 tickets pre-sold for the London IMAX, the largest IMAX screen in the country, which broke the theater records for the highest grossing week of pre-sales with £293,312 ($474,687), and the highest grossing first day of pre-sales with £137,000 ($221,717).[184] It extended this record to 30,000 tickets sold and £470,977 ($737,588) earned, and become the most pre-booked film at that theater, exceeding the performance of high-profile IMAX releases including Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 and Avatar.[185]
In North America, audience tracking showed high interest among males, but low among females.[186] In the week before the film's release, predictions were conflicted on whether Prometheus or Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted (the first family-oriented film of the summer),[187] which were released simultaneously, would reach number 1 for that weekend. On June 6, 2012, Fandango reported that with 42% of daily sales Prometheus was beating Madagascar 3. The online tracking for Prometheus surged with each additional promotional footage.[188] Prometheus was predicted to earn approximately $30 million, and Madagascar 3 around $45 million.[189] As the weekend approached, tracking suggested a $55 million debut for Madagascar 3 and $50–$55 million for Prometheus.[190] Prometheus was disadvantaged by Madagascar opening in 264 more theaters and its adult rating.[191]
Box office
Prometheus was considered a financial success overall. After a strong start in North America, the film failed to meet the studio's expectations, but it continued to perform strongly in other territories until the end of its theatrical run.[192][193][194][195][196] Prometheus earned $126.4 million (31.4%) in North America and $276.9 million (68.6%) elsewhere for a worldwide total of $403.4 million,[3] making it the 18th highest-grossing film of 2012,[197] and at its peak it was the 155th highest-grossing film worldwide unadjusted for inflation.[198]
Prometheus was released in 15 markets between May 30 and June 1, 2012—about a week before its North American release. The earlier start in these countries was timed to avoid competition with the start of the 2012 UEFA European Football Championship the following week. On its opening day, which varies depending on the country, it earned $3.39 million in the United Kingdom,[199] $2.2 million in Russia,[200] and $1.5 million in France.[183] The film earned $34.8 million during its opening weekend from 4,695 theaters in 15 markets, and debuted at number 1 in 14 of them, with an average of $7,461 per theater. Its overall rank for the weekend was third behind Men in Black 3 and Snow White & the Huntsman.[201] Its opening weekends in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Malta ($10.1 million), Russia and the CIS ($9.80 million), and France and the Maghreb region ($6.68 million) represented its largest takings.[202][203] By June 8, the film had opened in a total of 50 markets, and was also successful during its opening weekends in Australia ($7.2 million) and South Korea ($4.2 million).[204] During its late August opening in Japan, the film earned $9.6 million.[205]
In North America, Prometheus earned $3.561 million in midnight showings at 1,368 theaters, including $1.03 million from 294 IMAX theaters, and went on to earn $21.4 million through its opening day.[206] During its opening weekend, the film earned $51.05 million from 3,396 theaters—an average of $15,032 per theater—ranking second behind Madagascar 3 ($60.4 million), which made it the second largest opening for a film directed by Scott behind his 2001 thriller Hannibal, the third largest second-place opening, the ninth largest opening for a prequel, and the tenth largest for an R-rated film. The largest demographic of the opening weekend audience was over the age of 25 (64%) and male (57%). 3D showings accounted for 54% of ticket sales, while IMAX contributed 18%—the majority of which was accounted for in the 3D figure.[3][207][208] The film closed on September 20, 2012, after 105 days (15 weeks) in release with a total gross of $126.4 million. The figure made it the number 43 highest-grossing film to never finish a week as the number 1 film.[3]
Home media
In North America, Prometheus DVD and Blu-ray disc releases were listed for pre-order in partnership with Amazon on June 1, 2012, a week before the film was released in theaters. A limited number of cinema tickets for the film were offered as a pre-order incentive.[209] In June 2012, FX obtained the rights to the film's network television premiere.[210] On September 7, 2012, Fox announced that Prometheus would be the launch title of its new digital distribution initiative "Digital HD." The film was released on September 18, 2012, three weeks prior to its DVD, Blu-ray disc and Video on demand (VOD) release, for downloading and streaming through platforms including Amazon, iTunes, PlayStation Network and Xbox Live in over 50 countries.[211] The film was released on Blu-ray disc and DVD on October 9, 2012.[212] The Blu-ray disc edition of the film was released in a 2-disc set and a 4-disc "Collector's Edition." Both versions contain the theatrical cut of Prometheus, commentary by Scott, Lindelof and Spaihts, a DVD and digital copy of the film, alternate and deleted scenes, and other features. Additionally, the Collector's Edition contains the 3D version of the film and approximately 7 hours of supplemental features including a documentary on the film's production.[213] On October 8, 2012, it was reported that Fox had requested an extended version of the film for home media, but Scott refused to edit cut scenes back into the theatrical version of the film, which he considered his director's cut.[79] During its first week of sale in the United Kingdom, Prometheus was the number 1 selling film on DVD and Blu-ray Disc, outselling its nearest competitor by a factor of three.[214] An Ultra HD Blu-ray version was released in September 2017.[215][216]
