Alita: The rumors of Battle Angel's death exaggerated, the real fight at the box office

In what could be the final version of 20th Century Fox before it was embraced by Disney, "Alita: Battle Angel" was clearly the # 1 movie this weekend. The results were better than expected, with $ 41.7 million expected for the four-day weekend.

"Alita" beat the second weekend of "The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part" and two films that began Wednesday, "Is not it romantic" and "Happy Death Day 2U". With "What Men Want", also in its second week, they also represent the current state of affairs – and the industry has concerns far greater than those categories presented live at the Oscars next Sunday.

Presidents weekend will be at a low, with ticket sales down by at least a third; compared to some years, it's only half. One of those years was 2018, when "Black Panther" led to 31 million tickets sold. That was an extreme case, but the drop to 13 million this year is frightening, since three viable films opened (Panther) was only joined by the animated minor 'Early Man' in 2018.

This could be the nadir, with major releases going on such as "Captain Marvel" and "Avengers: Endgame". Nevertheless, he put this year in a hole, and he suggests that less comparable predecessors movies is a real trend.

Fox

"Alita" is James Cameron's first major feature (as a writer and producer, but no director – Robert Rodriguez directed the movie) since "Avatar". The adaptation of the popular manga is titanic in its budget). That's what makes it a problem so far.

International returns so far – $ 94 million in the initial countries, China and Japan ahead of us – show a parallel interest in internal. However, it takes at least $ 500 million to make a profit in the world. To do this, the two major foreign markets to come will have to mobilize about 200 million dollars. It's a big challenge.

The most discouraging element is that the critical response was not scathing, and that it received a decent A-Cinemascore, people still have not been enough.

Warner Bros.

Rebel Wilson / Liam Hemsworth's comedy "Is not It Romantic" brought in $ 14 million, making the $ 31 million film a new mix. With the decline of its date-night call, it could still reach about 40 million US dollars.

Warners sold this film to Netflix for the world outside North America for a projection starting Feb. 28 (but continues in theaters here, with normal windows and, later, alternatives for the home). This will probably cover the studio's expenses, but like another rather average title, this is a new bearish for the theaters. (The title of STX "The Upside" has a similar contract with Netflix.)

Blumhouse / Universal Photos

"Happy Death Day 2U", the latest version of Universal by prolific Blumhouse, was a counter-program that did not impress. This suite has managed in five days to do only half of the activity of the original 2017. The minor budget has doubled (9 million dollars this time); even with marketing, the producer always knows how to find the way to profit from foreign and subsequent income. But again, this is not up to the success of the theater that theaters once found so reliable.

Last weekend's disappointment, "The LEGO Movie 2", dropped by 38%, despite the improvement of the holiday weekend. The initial movie "LEGO" only dropped by 28% five years ago, also during a holiday weekend. He then raised more than $ 50 million, compared to just over $ 21 million this time. And the rhythm continues.

"What Men Want" dropped by 40%, beating "Happy Death Day" for fourth place. Once again, its $ 20 million budget should allow Paramount to stay whole. But his $ 11 million gross is, at best, only modest aid overall.

The other titles of the second week – "Cold Pursuit" and "The Prodigy" – have maintained their fall below 50%. But both have started from weak positions and do not feel that they are holding much longer races.

The winners remain among the winners again: "The Upside" and "Green Book". The first is approaching 100 million US dollars, while the second awaits the Oscar-winning success next weekend (though, at 14 weeks of play, for the availability of the digital home this week, the DVD remaining until March 5th.)

The top 10

1. Alita: the angel of battle (20th Century Fox) – Cinemascore: A-; Metacritic: 54; Is. budget: 170 million dollars

$ 27,800,000 in 3,790 movie theaters; APT (per theater): $ 7,335; Cumulative: $ 36,516,000

2. LEGO movie 2: The second part (Warner Bros.) – Week 2; Last weekend # 1

$ 21,215,000 (-38%) in 4,303 movie theaters (unchanged); PTA: $ 4,930; Cumulative: $ 62,690,000

3. Is not it romantic? (Warner Bros.) – Cinemascore: (not announced); Metacritic: 60; Is. budget: $ 31 million

$ 14,210,000 in 3,444 movie theaters; PTA: $ 4,126; Cumulative: $ 20,455,000

4. What do men want (Paramount) – Week 2; Last weekend # 2

$ 10,920,000 (-40%) in 2,912 rooms (no change); PTA: $ 3,750; Cumulative: $ 36,150,000

5. Happy Death Day 2U (Universal) – Cinemascore: (not announced); Metacritic: 56; Is. budget: $ 9 million

$ 9,816,000 in 3,207 theaters; PTA: $ 3,061; Cumulative: $ 13,528,000

6. Cold pursuit (Lionsgate) – Week 2; Last weekend # 3

$ 6,000,000 (-46%) in 2,630 movie theaters (no change); PTA: $ 2,281; Cumulative: $ 21,122,000

7. The rise (STX) – Week 6; Last weekend # 4

$ 5,590,000 (-21%) in 2,781 theaters (-591); PTA: $ 2,010; Cumulative: $ 94,197,000

8. glass (Universal) – Week 5; Last weekend # 5

$ 3,859,000 (-38%) in 2,449 movie theaters (-805); PTA: $ 2,449; Cumulative: $ 104,490,000

9. The prodigy (Orion) – Week 2; Last weekend # 6

$ 3,150,000 (-46%) in 2,530 movie theaters (no change); PTA: $ 1,245; Cumulative: $ 11,016,000

10. Green Paper (Universal) – Week 14; Last weekend # 7

$ 2,751,000 (-20%) in 1,618 theaters (-531); PTA: $ 1,700; Cumulative: $ 65,756,000

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