In a bit of an unexpected twist, Alita: Battle Angel was able to outperform expectations and steal the #1 spot. The video game adaptation earned $27.8 million in its opening (moderate $7,335 per-venue average), and a projected $33 million through Monday. Since its Thursday start, the sci-fi epic has pulled in $41.7 million. Fox was hoping for a debut of at least $30 million, so this does outpace what they were hoping for. Its' also one of the better starts for an original film in quite some time. With all of this in mind, it turned out to be a wise decision for distributor Fox (who's about to be merged into the Disney fold) to postpone its release to this weekend. That being said, this movie was always a tough sell, with a $170 million budget. Its' going to be a challenge for it to break even. Overall audience reception has been positive (A- CinemaScore), and there's no competition until Captain Marvel in three weeks. So, maybe it can hold decently through the end of February. But it still will need some overseas strength as well.Thankfully, Alita has performed respectably so far internationally. It earned another $56 million this weekend following an early launch two weeks ago. Worldwide, its at $135 million with gas in the tank left and China and Japan both still yet to open. Many analysts projected a $20-25 million five-day start.
This leaves The LEGO Movie 2 in second place. After a mediocre start last week, news didn't get much better this weekend. The animated sequel was off 38% to $21.2 million, for a projected $27.5 million gross through Monday. In 11 days, it has picked up $69 million, or the amount the first movie picked up in its opening weekend. The sequel has also turned in mediocre business overseas, with just $30 million so far. Next weekend also won't help matters with How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World set to debut Thursday.
Warner Bros. earned second and third place this weekend with LEGO and its new romantic comedy, Isn't It Romantic. The Rebel Wilson film did manage to match expectations, with a $14.2 million opening (mild $4,126 per-venue average), and a projected $17 million through Monday. Since its Wednesday start, it will have earned $23.3 million. With a clever concept and the Valentine's Day release timing, Romantic managed to successfully entice couples. With a mild "B" CinemaScore, I'm not sure if this will play well over the coming weeks. That being said, the budget here was only around $30 million, so it's at least due to possibly break-even stateside. Warners was hoping for a debut in the mid-to-upper teens millions.The other romantic comedy in the marketplace, What Men Want, took a bit of a nosedive in the face of added competition. Off 40% to $10.9 million ($12.5 million through Monday), the Taraji P. Henson flick has earned a decent $37.8 million in 10 days. While not a spectacular number, the film thankfully benefits from having just a $20 million price tag.
However, the weekend's biggest underperformer was surprisingly the horror sequel Happy Death Day 2U. The Blumhouse production earned $9.8 million over the weekend, for a projected $11.5 million through Monday ($15.2 million since its Wednesday start). That's way behind expectations, which some had projected as high as $30 million through its' six-day start (I was even more optimistic). In the meantime, the original Happy Death Day earned $26 million back in its debut in October 2017. However, it is important to keep in mind that these movies have small budgets, and this one was no different ($9 million). Distributor Universal will be fine, but I would not expect a third movie to follow here.
Liam Neeson's latest Cold Pursuit followed with a meh hold. His R-rated thriller was down 46% to $6 million ($7.2 million through Monday), for a weak $23.3 million in 11 days and likely to close around $35 million stateside. Meanwhile, The Upside continued to be the little engine that could. Kevin Hart and Bryan Cranston were off just 21% to $5.6 million in their sixth weekend of release ($6.8 million projected through Monday). With a strong $95.4 million in 43 days, the dramedy is set to pass $100 million in the next week or two.
Surprisingly continuing to have solid legs, Glass was off just 39% to $3.9 million ($4.6 million through Monday), for a solid $105.2 million pick-up in one month of release. Its' earned $230 million worldwide as well. After a mediocre start last week, The Prodigy was relatively unaffected by the arrival of Happy Death Day. The R-rated horror flick was off 46% (better-than-average for the genre) to $3.2 million ($3.8 million including Monday), for an unmemorable $11.6 million pick-up in 11 days. The horror flick will probably run out of gas just north of $15 million. With just a $6 million budget however, distributor Orion Pictures should not be too worried here.
Rounding out the Top 10 in its fourteenth week was Green Book. The Best Picture contender was off just 20% over the three-day stretch to $2.75 million ($3.2 million including Monday), for a strong $66.3 million in 99 days of release. The film will have one more hurrah next weekend before the Oscars next Sunday.
And that's about it. Next weekend, its' all about How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World. The animated threequel is distributor Universal's first film with DreamWorks Animation, and has earned $173 million overseas already so far. True story boxing drama Fighting with My Family also opens nationwide after a strong limited start. Can the box office finally surge a bit? Check out my predictions post on Wednesday. :)
