(Bloomberg) -- Fans of the original Alien will get to see Sigourney Weaver battle a deadly extraterrestrial on big screens all over again this weekend. 

The picture is being released for a limited run across the US on Friday — 45 years after its debut — in part to stoke interest in Alien: Romulus, a new installment of the franchise set for theaters in August.

The sci-fi classic isn’t alone. Sony Pictures is releasing eight Spider-Man films, staggering them in a weekly promotion that began April 15. Universal Pictures put Shrek 2 in theaters again on April 12, as a 20th birthday present to the big green ogre. Walt Disney Co. is celebrating the 25th anniversary of Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace with a run starting on May 3.

With a dearth of new pictures contributing to a slump in ticket sales, studios are releasing past hits in greater numbers. Some 38 old movies were scheduled to hit theaters through the end of April, a third more than last year, according to data from Comscore Inc.

“What you’re seeing right now is a surge because there’s not much commercial product in the market,” said Ray Nutt, chief executive officer of Fathom Events, a distributor owned by three of the biggest theater chains that regularly releases classic films. “I do believe exhibitors are trying to fill a slow time in the marketplace.”

Cinema operators are suffering from the impact of the twin strikes by screenwriters and actors last year, which slowed film production and thinned studios’ release schedules. Tighter budgets in Hollywood and the lingering impact of the pandemic are also playing a role. What’s less clear is the extent to which media giants have conditioned film lovers to wait until movies appear on streaming services, rather than going to theaters.

Through last weekend, ticket sales were down 18% this year to $1.98 billion, according to researcher Comscore Inc.

AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. Chief Executive Officer Adam Aron warned investors last month that the first part of the year would be a “slog to wade through.” At CinemaCon, the industry’s big trade show, he forecast that 64 films would get wide releases this year, down from 84 before the pandemic. 

The summer film season is coming late this year, according to Kevin Near, an analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence. Although new installments of the Planet of the Apes and Mad Max franchises are due to hit theaters next month, it may not be until June, when Pixar’s Inside Out 2 and Paramount Global’s A Quiet Place: Day One are released, that ticket sales begin to pick up, he said. Market researcher the Numbers is forecasting domestic box-office sales of $8.3 billion this year, a 7.9% drop.

--With assistance from Thomas Buckley.

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