James Cameron (Avatar) is back in the box office game with Alita: Battle Angel, which will take in $41.7 million over the course of the four-day President's Day weekend from 3,790 domestic theaters.
Nevertheless, the film cost around $170 million to produce, so there's a lot of financial ground to cover before it can even begin to be considered a success. Since this is only the movie's first weekend at the box office, things aren't looking too good.
Co-written by Cameron and directed by Robert Rodriguez (Sin City), the cyberpunk-inspired sci-fi feature is an adaptation of Yukito Kishiro's beloved manga, Gunnm. Rosa Salazar (Bird Box) stars in the titular role as a cyborg discovered in a junk heap and brought to life by Dr. Dyson Ido (Christoph Waltz). Living in the dystopian Iron City, Alita will attempt to discover who (and what) she is.
Credit: 20th Century Fox
Mahershala Ali (True Detective), Jennifer Connelly (Spider-Man: Homecoming), Ed Skrein (Deadpool 2), Jackie Earle Haley (Watchmen), and Casper Van Dien (Starship Troopers) round out the movie's all-star ensemble. Reviews for Alita: Battle Angel praise the state-of-the-art special effects, but criticize the story, which leaves much to be desired. The film currently holds a 59% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Happy Death Day 2U also debuted this weekend, but will only make enough, $11.5 million, to nab the fifth spot at the four-day President's Day box office. Compared to Alita, however, it only cost a meager $9 million to make, so it's sweet, sweet profit from here on out, baby. Compared to the first Happy Death Day, it's still technically a disappointment as the original hit the ground running with $26 million domestically in 2017.
Written and directed by Christopher Landon (he also directed the first movie, but didn't write it), the Blumhouse-produced sequel finds Tree Gelbman (Jessica Rothe) stuck in another, more deadly time loop than before. With a 66% on Rotten Tomatoes, reviews have also been kinder than they were for Alita. Even so, critics have pointed out that the follow-up is not as original or creative as its predecessor.
Credit: Universal Pictures/Blumhouse
The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part, which was No. 1 last weekend, will fall to second place with $25 million. In 2014, the first film had already broken the $100 million barrier with nearly $50 million domestically in its second weekend at the box office. The Second Part currently stands at $64 million at the global box office, more than $45 million of that total coming from North America.
Isn't it Romantic and What Men Want—two movies with similar premises—are also fighting for a seat at the table. Now in its sophomore outing, What Men Want should do $12.6 million over the four-day holiday. Undertaking its first metaphorical lap, Isn't it Romantic, which stars Rebel Wilson as a woman who magically finds herself living out a romantic comedy, is on track for a $17.3 million debut.
(via The Hollywood Reporter, Variety & Box Office Mojo)
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