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Alita: Battle Angel Film Earns US$62.3 Million in Opening Weekend in China

The entertainment news website Deadline reported on Friday that Alita: Battle Angel — James Cameron and Robert Rodriguez's live-action film of Yukito Kishiro's Battle Angel Alita (GUNNM) manga — earned an equivalent of US$62.3 million in China in its opening weekend, according to Fox's estimates. The website also reported that the film earned the equivalent of US$64.8 million over the weekend according to "local reporting." The figure marks Fox's biggest opening ever in China.

The film earned the equivalent of US$9 million at 603 IMAX screens to make a new record for Fox's IMAX openings in China. The opening also marks the largest IMAX opening ever in China in February.

The film earned an equivalent of US$19.8 million in China in its opening day on Friday, with an additional US$1 million for Thursday night screenings.

The film also opened on 828 screens in Japan on Friday and ranked at #2 at the box office for the weekend. The film sold 212,630 tickets over the three-day weekend to earn 342.66 million yen (about US$3.09 million). The sales include 152,000 tickets for 248 million yen (about US$2.24 million) on Saturday and Sunday. The film is expected to earn a cumulative total of more than 1.5 billion yen (about US$13.5 million) in Japan.

The Box Office Mojo website reported that the film earned an estimated US$12 million at the box office in the United States in its second weekend from Friday to Sunday. The website reported that the film has earned a cumulative total of US$60,681,068 in the United States as of Sunday.

Box Office Mojo reported the film had an opening weekend earning of US$28,525,613. The website reported on February 17 that the film earned an estimated domestic total of US$36.5 in its first four days, with a five-day gross of US$41.7 million. The film ranked #1 in the United States in its opening weekend.

Deadline reported that the film earned an estimated US$92.4 million in 82 international markets over this past weekend, bringing its cumulative international box office total to US$202.7 million. According to Fox's estimates, the film has earned a cumulative total of US$263.3 million worldwide.

The movie has a reported production budget of US$200 million (US$170 million after tax credits). Deadline stated its sources are estimating the film will earn a final total of more than US$400 million worldwide. The site had stated earlier this week that Fox has said the number the film needs to make to break even is US$350-US$400 million, but Deadline added "other finance film sources with knowledge of the budget" state that number at US$500 million or more.

The film opened in early February in the U.K. and in several countries in Asia before the film's U.S. debut on February 14.

The movie stars Rosa Salazar (Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials, The Divergent Series: Insurgent, Man Seeking Woman) in motion capture as Alita. Robert Rodriguez (El Mariachi, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Sin City, Spy Kids) directed the film. James Cameron and his Lightstorm Entertainment partner Jon Landau produced the project, and Shutter Island's Laeta Kalogridis penned a script. Singer-songwriter Dua Lipa performed a new song titled "Swan Song" for the film.

Sources: Deadline (Nancy Tartaglione), Box Office Mojo link 2, Eiga.com