LOL BO charts tell another story..
These jokes are getting lazy,tbh. I get that you don't like the direction taken by Scott but,funnily enough,without his "toxic presence" this movie wouldn't have had the reviews it got. Waterston was actually the "face" of the movie,if we -seriously- want to complain about marketing and BO draws,which doesn't even make sense to begin with.
I don't think that's the reason,or the main reason. Deadline's analysis is spot on. You've the franchise fans who are going to see it in any case. We can assume the same for those who're interested in this genre. But there's definitely confusion for the casual moviegoer. This opening is obviously underwhelming,but I've never expected much more than 40M in the first place. Prometheus was really an exception. It was treated as an event and the fact that it was promoted as an original sci-fi thriller appealed to a wider audience.