News Writer: Raven
While Alita: Battle Angel is yet to be released in US theaters on February 14, projections for the film already look grim. Tracking numbers indicate that it will only earn around $25 million on its opening week, with a final domestic gross of $50 million—far from breaking even of the film’s reported $200 million budget.
There is still hope for the film, however, as it is still set to be released in Japan and China on February 22. As Alita is more well-known in Asia, some analysts say that the film could manage to break even in Asian markets. Alita might be able to break out particularly well in China, as there are cases when effects-driven Western movies that flopped domestically manage a surprise success in Chinese theaters (as was the case with Warcraft).
Written by Yukito Kishiro in 1990, Alita is a cyberpunk manga that tells the story of a cyborg who lost all her memories except for the Panzer Kunst, a legendary cyborg martial art. She uses her skills to become a bounty hunter and to ultimately rediscover her identity and past.
Alita has long been a passion project of bigshot Hollywood producer James Cameron, who has announced his plans to adapt the manga way back 2003. The project was ultimately shelved to make way for Avatar, and was only revisited in 2016. Alita: Battle Angel is directed by Robert Rodriguez, with screenplay co-written by James Cameron and Laeta Kalogridis. Rosa Salazar of Divergent and Maze Runner stars as titular character Alita.
Source: The Wrap, Anime News Network