Alita: Battle Angel prevails in lowest-earning President's Day weekend in 18 ...

Alita: Battle Angel prevails in lowest-earning President's Day weekend in 18 years

By Reuters

Published: 16:23 GMT, 17 February 2019 | Updated: 23:01 GMT, 17 February 2019

Fox's sci-fi adventure Alita: Battle Angel dominated in North America, but its opening weekend win isn't leaving the box office with much to celebrate. 

Independent tracking services estimate that this will be one of the lowest grossing President's Day weekends in years.

Alita, the cyberpunk CGI spectacle, earned $27 million when it debuted in 3,790 locations and $33 million over the four-day frame for a domestic haul of $41 million. 

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Winner: Alita, the cyberpunk CGI spectacle, earned $27 million when it debuted in 3,790 locations and $33 million over the four-day frame for a domestic haul of $41 million, marking the winner for the lowest box office for a President's Day weekend in 18 years 

Winner: Alita, the cyberpunk CGI spectacle, earned $27 million when it debuted in 3,790 locations and $33 million over the four-day frame for a domestic haul of $41 million, marking the winner for the lowest box office for a President's Day weekend in 18 years 

It came in slightly ahead of expectations heading into the weekend, but Alita: Battle Angel still has an uphill battle to become profitable. 

Directed by Robert Rodriguez and produced by James Cameron, the Japanese manga adaptation cost over $170 million to produce. That number doesn't include the tens of millions spent in marketing.

With that said, it looks like the studio made the right decision pushing back Alita's release date. Fox originally intended to drop the movie in December, where it would have competed with a lineup that included Aquaman, Mary Poppins Returns, and Bumblebee. 

By doing so, Alita avoided getting steamrolled a la Mortal Engines, Universal's sci-fi epic that flopped in spectacular fashion when it debuted in December. The $100 million movie stalled out with just $15 million at the domestic box office.

Star power: Christoph Waltz, Rosa Salazar, Robert Anthony Rodriguez posed at the Alita: Battle Angel film premiere in Tokyo Thursday

Star power: Christoph Waltz, Rosa Salazar, Robert Anthony Rodriguez posed at the Alita: Battle Angel film premiere in Tokyo Thursday

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