411 Box Office Report: Alita: Battle Angel Tops Weekend With $27.8 Million

It’s not the start the film needed, but Alita: Battle Angel still managed to win the box office this weekend. The sci-fi action film scored the #1 spot at the box office with $27.8 million, giving it $36.5 million since it opened on Thursday. That’s well above the mid-teens start that early predictions had it, and is the best opening for a Robert Rodriguez film since Sin City opened to $29.1 million in 2005. That said, it is still not a good opening for an expensive franchise film.

Going into the weekend, things did not look good for Battle Angel in terms of domestic gross. The film hasn’t managed to get real traction in the US despite the fandom-heavy property and the marketing of Rodriguez and James Cameron as names attached to the film. (Cameron produced and, at one point, was set to direct before he got sucked into the Avatar sequels.) But the film overindexed, thanks in part to a late marketing push. The film is expected to have $41.7 million by the end of the day on Monday, which is President’s Day. The lack of acclaim likely didn’t help; critics were moderate at best on it with a 59% Rotten Tomatoes average. On the plus side, audiences who have seen it liked it with an A- CinemaScore, so word of mouth should help.

For a film that cost $170 million plus marketing, this is a rather anemic start. The film is expected to need a final worldwide gross of $500 million to $550 million to break even, and that looks to be a difficult mark to reach. That said, this film wasn’t made primarily for domestic audiences, and the overseas numbers are better. In two weekends, the movie has $94.4 million for a $130.9 million worldwide total thus far (with China and Japan not yet opened yet). It’s still got a long climb if it wants to reach a profit margin for Fox, and the odds are not in its favor. Domestically it is looking likely to hit around $110 million or so by the end of its run. If it continues to draw money overseas it has a shot, but it’s going to be a stretch.

The Lego Movie 2 had the hold it desperately needed, down a solid 38% in its second weekend with $21.3 million. That’s on par with the hold for LEGO Batman in June of 2017, and better than LEGO Ninjago’s 43% drop. Warner Bros. really had to have this film hold on after last week’s disappointing start. It’s still not in great shape right now, sitting at $62.7 million domestically and $97.4 million worldwide. It is looking likely to end its run in the US around $110 million to $115 million, with overseas numbers still needing to improve if it has a shot at profit on its $99 million budget plus marketing.

Rebel Wilson’s romantic comedy Isn’t It Romantic was okay in its opening weekend, bringing in $14.2 million and $20.5 million since Thursday. The film was released to capitalize on Valentine’s Day of course, and the heavy lean into its Thursday grosses are indicative of that. This was a fairly inexpensive film and got its numbers thanks to the strength of the cast. It was a solid vote for Wilson in her first solo starring vehicle after ensemble films like the Pitch Perfect franchise and a co-lead in 2016’s How to Be Single.

Isn’t It Romantic was never going to be overly reliant on its critical assessment; rom-coms during Valentine’s Day rarely are. That said, the fact that critics were reasonably bullish on this helped. The film has a 69% average on RT, which probably provided a minor boost. With $22.7 million by Monday, it’s looking likely to finish in the $65 million range or so by the end of its domestic run, and perhaps higher if it holds well. With a $31 million budget, it should be a minor success for the studio.

What Men Want felt the bite of Wilson’s comedy, though it still held on okay. The Taraji P. Henson comedy was down 40% to $10.9 million, bringing its totals to $36.2 million domestically and $38.7 million worldwide. It suggests that the film will have at least some measure of box office strength, looking likely to hit $60 million or more by the time it closes. That would be enough for a minor profit on a $20 million budget when foreign grosses start to trickle in.

Happy Death Day 2U was a disappointment, bringing in $9.8 million for the three-day weekend and $13.5 million including Thursday. The sequel to the surprise 2017 horror hit was expected to open with around $20 million, so this is not at all what Universal wanted to see. The film simply got bowled over by the sudden push for Alita and the solid performance of Isn’t It Romantic, both of which were competing for different portions of the horror sequel’s audience.

Happy Death Day 2U fell victim to the fact that it was a sequel to a sleeper hit. No one ever really thought the first film would be the breakout that it was, and that set the expectations high for the sequel. Scheduling was really the big problem here, as mentioned before. Critics liked it, but not quite as much as the original (66% on RT vs. 71% for the original). The good news is that this film will still bring in a profit, as the film cost just $9 million. It’s scored $11.8 million in oversea markets for a $25.3 million worldwide start. It should finish off domestically around $40 million, enough for profit but perhaps not enough for a third film.

Cold Pursuit had a pretty good hold compared to Liam Neeson’s usual action-thrillers, down 46% to $6 million in its second weekend. That’s good compared to films like Run All Night (54%), The Commuter (52%) and A Walk Among the Tombstones (67%). Considering the film’s low start, this is really good news for Lionsgate. With $21.1 million domestically, the film looks like it’s going to finish off with around $30 million to $35 million in the US. Overseas numbers will be its saving grace, allowing the movie to break event against its $60 million budget.

The Upside was down just 21% in its fifth weekend with $5.6 million. The Kevin Hart/Bryan Cranston dramedy has reached $94.2 million domestically and $104 million worldwide on a budget of $37.5 million, making it a minor sleeper hit. It is likely to end its domestic run at around $110 million, a good number for Hart.

Glass dropped 39% in its fifth weekend to bring in $3.9 million. The M. Night Shyamalan-directed superhero thriller has a total of $104.5 million domestically and $234.8 million worldwide on a $20 million budget. Despite the disappointing opening last month, this is a profitable one for Universal. Its domestic total should end up at around $115 million or so.

The Prodigy followed up its low start with a middling hold, down 47% in its second weekend with $3.2 million. That’s a solid hold for a film that opened high, particularly in horror. For a film that opened in the mid-single digits, it’s not great. The Taylor Schilling-starring film has $11 million thus far and is still looking likely for $18 million or so, which may be a very minor profit on a $6 million budget.

Green Book closed out the top ten with $2.8 million, down 20% in its fourtenth weekend for $2.8 million. The Oscar contender now has $65.8 million domestically and $126.4 million worldwide, making it a hiot against its $23 million budget. It could ginish out around $75 million domestically, perhaps more if it gets a boost with wins at the Oscars.

It didn’t get close to the top ten, but WWE Studios’ Fighting With My Family got off to a solid start in just four theaters this weekend. The Florence Pugh-starring film, which is based on Paige’s life, brought in $131,6000 for a good $32,906 per-screen average. That is the best average for the weekend, and positions it well for its wide release next weekend. The film has been a hit with critics with a 93% average on Rotten Tomatoes. It should be able to open in the $8 million to $10 million range next weekend.

The weekend, however, will be ruled by How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World. The final film in the DreamWorks Animation trilogy should score $45 million to $50 million for the weekend.

BOX OFFICE TOP TEN (Three-Day Domestic Numbers)
1. Alita: Battle Angel – $27.8 million ($36.5 million total)
2. The Lego Movie 2 – $21.2 million ($62.7 million total)
3. Isn’t It Romantic – $14.2 million ($20.5 million total)
4. What Men Want – $10.9 million ($36.2 million total)
5. Happy Death Day 2U – $9.8 million ($13.5 million total)
6. Cold Pursuit – $6 million ($21.1 million total)
7. The Upside – $5.6 million ($94.2 million total)
8. Glass – $3.9 million ($104.5 million total)
9. The Prodigy – $3.2 million ($11 million total)
10. Green Book – $2.8 million ($65.8 million total)