LOS ANGELES, Feb 20 — Fox’s new sci-fi fantasy Alita: Battle Angel dominated the US box office charts over the four-day holiday weekend, earning US$33.5 million (RM136.2 million), industry tracker Exhibitor Relations said yesterday.
The futuristic film, which stars Rosa Salazar voicing Alita, a cyborg almost more human than machine, is a computer-animated adaptation of a Japanese cyberpunk manga story.
Directed by Robert Rodriguez and produced by James Cameron, the project for the US$170-million film was 20 years in the making.
The Fox film beat out last weekend’s leader, The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part, which earned Warner Bros an estimated US$27.8 million over the Presidents Day weekend.
This fourth Lego movie again features the voices of Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks and Will Arnett — joined this time by Tiffany Haddish and Maya Rudolph — in a story of love and chaos in a post-apocalyptic toyland.
In third was another Warner Bros. film, Isn’t It Romantic?, at US$16.6 million. Rebel Wilson stars as a rom-com hating New Yorker who, after a blow to the head, finds herself in her own romantic comedy. Liam Hemsworth also stars.
Fourth place went to Paramount’s What Men Want. The gender-switching remake of 2000’s What Women Want stars Taraji P. Henson. It had four-day ticket sales of US$12.2 million.
And in fifth was Happy Death Day 2U from Universal, at US$11 million — already recouping the mere US$9 million it cost to make. Jessica Rothe again plays the role of a young woman living and reliving the day of her murder.
Rounding out the weekend’s top 10 were: Cold Pursuit (US$6.9 million), The Upside (US$6.5 million), Glass (US$4.6 million), The Prodigy (US$3.7 million), and Green Book (US$3.5 million). — AFP
