Despite predictions of doom and gloom – with some analysts suggesting that Fox could be looking at a loss as high as $200 million – Robert Rodriguez and James Cameron’s manga adaptation Alita: Battle Angel has got off to a solid start at the international box office with $32 million from just 11 markets.
Deadline reports that Fox executives are very pleased with the film’s performance, and with the film said to be tracking a lowly $25 million opening weekend in North America, the hope is that the international territories – particularly Asia – will propel the movie into the black.
Alita opens in China on February 22nd, where it is the first big foreign title of the New Year, and Fox is planning a huge premiere in the Middle Kingdom in order to capitalise on the IP’s brand awareness, and James Cameron’s popularity in the region.
Be sure to check out our exclusive interviews with Rosa Salazar, Christoph Waltz and director Robert Rodriguez here…
Visionary filmmakers James Cameron (AVATAR) and Robert Rodriguez (SIN CITY) create a groundbreaking new heroine in ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL, an action-packed story of hope, love and empowerment. Set several centuries in the future, the abandoned Alita (Rosa Salazar) is found in the scrapyard of Iron City by Ido (Christoph Waltz), a compassionate cyber-doctor who takes the unconscious cyborg Alita to his clinic. When Alita awakens she has no memory of who she is, nor does she have any recognition of the world she finds herself in. Everything is new to Alita, every experience a first. As she learns to navigate her new life and the treacherous streets of Iron City, Ido tries to shield Alita from her mysterious past while her street-smart new friend, Hugo (Keean Johnson), offers instead to help trigger her memories. A growing affection develops between the two until deadly forces come after Alita and threaten her newfound relationships. It is then that Alita discovers she has extraordinary fighting abilities that could be used to save the friends and family she’s grown to love. Determined to uncover the truth behind her origin, Alita sets out on a journey that will lead her to take on the injustices of this dark, corrupt world, and discover that one young woman can change the world in which she lives.
Alita: Battle Angel features a cast that includes Rosa Salazar (Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials), Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained), Michelle Rodriguez (The Fate of the Furious), Keean Johnson (Nashville), Jackie Earle Haley (Preacher), Jennifer Connelly (American Pastoral), Ed Skrein (Deadpool), Eiza Gonzalez (From Dusk Till Dawn), Mahershala Ali (Luke Cage), Lana Condor (X-Men: Apocalypse) and Jorge Lendeborg Jr. (Spider-Man: Homecoming).
