Despite an unenthusiastic critical response and a last-minute controversy, 20th Century Fox’s “The Predator” came in first in domestic ticket sales this weekend, unseating Warner’s surprise hit “The Nun” with an estimated $24 million.

But the latest installment in the “Predator” series fell short of the $24.8 million taken in domestically during the opening weekend by its 2010 predecessor, “Predators,” while costing more than twice as much to make. (“Predators” had a production budget of roughly $40 million; “The Predator” cost Fox about $88 million to produce.) An additional $30.7 million in estimated international sales this weekend doesn’t signal that the studio will get the overseas boost it needs to turn “The Predator” into a smash — and early October movies like “Venom” and “A Star Is Born” threaten to limit the film’s longevity at the box office.

“The Predator,” directed by Shane Black and starring Boyd Holbrook, Olivia Munn and Keegan-Michael Key, is the fourth film in the franchise that began in 1987 with “Predator,” starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.” (That total does not include the two “Alien vs. Predator” crossover films.)

Last month, Fox pulled a scene from “The Predator” after learning that an actor who was to have a minor role in the film, Steven Wilder Striegel, is a registered sex offender. The studio deleted the only scene in the movie in which Mr. Striegel was to appear, but the report and the controversy surrounding it were likely on the minds of some potential audience members this weekend, particularly given Mr. Black’s admission that he had been aware of Mr. Striegel’s status. (In a statement, the director said that he had been “misled by a friend I really wanted to believe was telling me the truth when he described the circumstances of his conviction.”)