Alita: Battle Angels wins the box office weekend but struggles to be a hit in the U.S :(

1. Altia: Battle Angel - $27.8 Million ($36 million since opening Wednesday & new release)
2. The Lego Movie 2 - The second part 2 $21.2 Million
3. Isn't It Romantic - $14.2 Million ($20.4 million since opening Wednesday & new release)
4. What Men Want - $10.9 Million
5. Happy Death Day 2U - $9.8 Million ($13.5 million since opening Wednesday & new release)
6. Cold Pursuit - $6.0 Million
7. The Upside - $5.5 Million
8. Glass - $3.8 Million
9. The Prodigy - $3.1 Million
10. Green Book - $2.7 Million

We're still in the drought, February 2019 isn't strong and with Alita being one of the AAA movie of the year with it's $170 Million budget, this is a disappointing but at the same time, given how weird Alita is, Alita actually did better than one might expect. The obvious comparison is to 2017's Ghost in the Shell live, which only opened at $18 million and grossed $40.5 million total. Still, the big problem here is that the movie cost was too high and hopefully, it becomes a hit in China & Japan but China will make up the cost. Other then that, March 2019 should be a good start for movie fans.

February 15-17 mojo's box office weekend

@davillain-: Anime is a weirdo niche market here. Nothing wrong with making a big budget live action anime movie if you’re targeting the international market, but hoping anime will be mainstream here anytime soon would be a mistake.

The budget is actually $170 million. And initial projections pegged Alita at just a $20M+ opening, so it's already exceeded expectations.

Either way, it clearly wasn't made with the US market in mind, but was made mainly for the international market. The international markets, particularly China (and maybe Japan), should help it break-even.

Like I said in another thread, I expect the movie to do similar worldwide numbers to Ready Player One.

Man I hope it gets more revenue in. I loved that movie and definitely plan on seeing the sequel.

I can wait for Alita. Actually going to see Happy Death Day 2U tomorrow.

I havn't seen it but I want to see it.

While its not mainstream or wont be soonish, It's not that underground anymore. I could see it being mainstream in 10 years.

@Jag85: Thanks Jag85, I updated the OP on the $170 budget.

@Baconstrip78:

Alita is niche even by anime/manga standards. It's not like it's a movie based on a mainstream anime like Dragon Ball or Pokemon (e.g. Detective Pikachu is expected to become a major blockbuster), but it's based on a niche manga that even most anime/manga fans had previously never heard of before. Alita is like a niche within a niche.... which includes myself, since I'm among the handful of fans who watched the anime OVA way back in the '90s.

@npiet1:

Anime and manga are already mainstream in many international markets, e.g. Asia, Latin America, Francophone countries, Germany, etc. But anime and manga aren't quite so mainstream in Anglophone countries like the US and UK. That's why this movie had low projections for the US (although it managed to almost double those projections), and much of its success is hinging on international markets where anime/manga are more mainstream.

I hope we get a sequel. I really enjoyed Alita. Its not a really good movie but the setup is really good. They can improve a lot with sequel, first western produced anime live action movie that I actually want a sequel.

I watched it and want a sequel. The fights are amazing.

Movie looked cringeworthy.

My friends don't want to see alita im stuck I guess ill just wait for it on streaming.

Hmm, surprising Altia took the nr.1 spot considering the nature of it.

Also, it´s interesting to look at the total income, Altia took in 137mill so far, where 94mill was on the foreign market, Lego movie took in 100mill where close to 70mill was domestic.

But Altia needs to pick up or it will be a massive failure.

This, this and this.

@Jacanuk: I think China & Japan international will make up the numbers and I will admit, I really enjoy Alita mainly the visuals were great and the fights was good.

Hmm, ya Japan and China will love this one. I will wait for a blu-ray, just can´t get over how misformed the main characters head and eyes look, I get this kind of Anime has those big eyes but it looks like someone squished her head and the eyes popped out.

As a whole the movie was a mess. But even despite the script Alita was oddly compelling as a character which I did not expect. Not that she had a good story arc or anything but the way she looked, moved, talked, and her overall brashness and strangeness was.... endearing? In the hands of better writers and filmmakers I can see it all coming together better.

The movie kind of missed out on an opportunity to have some interesting subtext on body dysphoria. Again, in the hands of better writers.....

@Jacanuk: At least it looks more interesting than Brie Larson's Captain Marvel.

The eyes were the turn-off for me. Lol. I think it'd bother me too much if I was trying to enjoy the movie.

I enjoyed the movie alot, saw it in 3d (usually hate 3d but this was great in 3d)

Id give it a solid 8/10

I would defiantly go see a sequel.

I imagine the "eye thing" is alienating a lot of the North American movie goers. Plus, it's based on manga/anime; there are fans of that over here, but it still seems pretty niche.

This. Screw these assholes for thinking Alita's face needed to stand out like this. She's my favorite manga character. They ruined her. I'll reread the manga before I even bother renting this.

@davillain-: Looks better than "Woke" Captain Marvel

I'm funna see dis flick. Funna git some popcorn too!

And I'm still going to see it too ^-^

@davillain-: Even after Brie Larson revealed that she's a horrible human being?

What did she do?

Like Aquaman, Venom and Bohemian Rhapsody last year, it turns out Alita is yet another movie that has got a mixed reception from critics yet a positive reception from audiences...

Critics:

• RT - 59%
• MC - 54/100

Audiences:

• CinemaScore - A-
• PostTrack - 78%
• RT - 93%
• MC - 8.6/10

There also seems to be a pattern emerging here, with critics biased towards Disney and against rival studios (i.e. Fox, Sony and Warner), routinely overrating anything from Disney, while repeatedly underrating anything from rival studios. The critics must either be owned/paid by Disney, or they must be a bunch of hardcore Disney fanboys/fangirls. They're trying to do everything to sell Disney movies, while trying hard to undersell movies from rival studios.

Interestingly, the "woke" angle only really seems to work when promoting Disney movies. When other studios come out with diverse movies, they get routinely derided for not being "woke" enough...

Last year, for example, critics bashed Bohemian Rhapsody with accusations of "straight-washing", instead of celebrating the fact that the movie has a bixesual Indian/Persian immigrant protagonist (Freddie Mercury) played by an Egyptian son-of-immigrants (Rami Malek).

And now critics are bashing Alita for making her look "feminine" (as if femininity is somehow a negative thing, with some even making bizarre accusations of "sexualization"), instead of celebrating the fact that the movie has a diverse cast and crew, with a kickass Latina female lead (Rosa Salazar), a Latino director (Robert Rodriguez), a female co-writer (Laeta Kalogridis), a Japanese author (Yukito Kishiro), and a badass black antagonist (Mahershala Ali, who looks like he'd make a great Blade).

In contrast, Captain Marvel has a white lead and a white director, yet many liberals/progressives/feminists are celebrating its so-called "diversity" just because it's a Disney movie... It seems like "woke" and "diversity" are only a big deal when it's from Disney, not from anyone else.

@Jag85: Then Disney/Marvel should have went with Monica Rambeau as Ms/Captain Marvel instead. She was a good one character wise, before they ruined the comic series and rebooted it 8 times in less than 2 years. In other words, there's no real demand for Captain Marvel to be adapted to a movie. My favorite Captain Marvel will always be Rogue from X-Men Animated Series.

Also, as for activism, my problem with Brie Larson is her ideal of preaching of empowerment instead of actually helping a community. Now, James Cameron, he did this

Now this is more empowering than Disney/Marvel is doing.

@FireEmblem_Man: Pretty darn cool.

@FireEmblem_Man: I don't see the big deal over Brie Larson's comments. She's just an actress, and is entitled to her opinions. But I do have a problem with the Disney/Marvel machine in general. Because it just reeks of Disney trying to monopolize Hollywood, which is terrible for the movie industry. I'd be happy for Captain Marvel to succeed on its own merits, but the media bias towards Disney and against its rivals is troubling.

And yeah, that was awesome on James Cameron's part.

What's with the Battle Angel vs Captain Marvel thing? I'm seeing alot of it on Reddit and Youtube. Is it just because both have female leads?

Just came across this youtube comment which I feel sums up the bizzare sentiments about Alita. and I quote "Alita is a feminine, sweet, and powerful woman... OUR FUTURE with robotic women will be amazing! How exciting! Marvel’s Captain Marbles (for brains), is a waste of film. Brie Larson has the personality of frozen squid. See Alita Battle Angel....it’s truly amazing!"

@volsung: It's the double-standards from critics that have led to a lot of these Alita vs. Captain Marvel comparisons. They both have kickass female protagonists, yet critics are bashing one heroine while celebrating the other heroine. It's the hypocrisy from critics that is bothering a lot of people.

Is that widespread? I mean I've read some reviews, not all but some, and the overall sentiment is one that I agree with and that is Alita is a fantastic character but everything else is lacking. Captain Marvel isn't even out yet.

@volsung: There were a number of articles complaining about Alita's alleged "sexualization" (which isn't true at all) and that it's not "woke" enough (despite having a diverse cast and crew). But come to think of it, they may have just been a minority of critics. Seems like most critics like Alita herself, but are bashing the movie mainly because it's set-up for a sequel... which itself is still a ridiculous complaint, since they always give Disney/Marvel a free pass for doing that. It's obvious many critics are ridiculously biased towards Disney/Marvel and against rival studios (DC, Warner, Fox, Sony, etc.), so it's not surprising that many feel the critics are unfairly bashing Alita just because they don't want it stealing Captain Marvel's thunder.

Anyway, the movie just had a $20M opening day in China. Looks like this movie will likely end up turning a profit thanks to a strong performance in international markets (where critics have little influence), despite its relatively weaker performance in North America (though it did still exceed expectations there).

Well that's silly.

Just saw it in 3D and liked it. Doesn't stray too far from the source material.

I wonder if I'd enjoy it more on a rewatch, probably not though. I hope it has a good box office run though, if nothing else because it would encourage more Hollywood cyberpunk/anime/weird sci fi adaptions.

And eh, I'd go to a sequel if they made one. But you know what I don't want to see? The also-produced-by-James-Cameron Terminator 6. So.......choosing between Hollywood going in the Alita direction as opposed to the Terminator direction......I think it's obvious which would be better.

I keep hearing from people it's a surprisingly good movie, so maybe I'll watch it too.

It wasn't just articles, but reviews. It makes me wonder if the people who are against user review bombing are ok with critics review bombing. Critics picking reviews at random to push ideologies instead of critiquing a movie for what it is, that seems extremely similar to users scoring something based on ethics and not having seen the movie. It's an act of activism which can be useful to bring something to attention, but as a review in itself they are less useful. In the case of a professional critic he/she has to build up an audience based on their consistency or integrity, and activism like that jeopardizes their livelihood because their reviews can no longer be trusted to be actual reviews.

@davillain-: I have to say the movie was pretty good. My Dad thought he wouldn't like it and neither did I. We left the Theater very satisfied wanting more of Alita's world. This is generally how I know that I will like a movie upon second viewing. Both this and aquaman left me with a sense of hype and satisfaction when the credits rolled. When the credits of last jedi rolled, I had convinced myself that I liked it, but in reality I felt a weird emptiness, that the movie hasn't left me satisfied. Upon second viewing I realized that I was just kidding myself.

I'm glad to hear you enjoy Alita. And speaking as a fan of the manga and the OAVs, I felt very satisfied with the adaptation. Yes, changes were made. Some pretty significant. But the way they were handled in the context of the movie made them work well.

I can see where the critics were coming from but I think they went in looking for it to go in a certain direction and Cameron went another though without losing the heart of the story. And that's what mattered to me. This Alita felt like the Alita I've enjoyed for nearly 25 years.

Someone on blu-ray.com brought up a good point about the shitty eyes after I posted something there. How much more bloated the budget is because of this tasteless artistic choice.

If they had gone with normal (better looking) eyes, they wouldn't have needed to do mo-cap at all, just arms and legs CG replacement for certain shots like the movie Ex Machina. That had very realistic effects and they cost a fraction compared to this movie.

Heck, they might have even made a profit without all the mo-cap since their budget wouldn't have been so bloated.

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=16273266&postcount=675

As a fan of the manga, I still don't feel like watching this.

Did you REALLY have to bump a month old thread?

C'mon, man... you know better than that.