Cyborgs of ‘Alita’ vanquish rivals

LOS ANGELES: Fox’s new sci-fi spectacle Alita: Battle Angel is dominating North American box offices with an estimated US$33 million (RM135 million) take this four-day holiday weekend, industry trackers said on Sunday.

The film, with Rosa Salazar voicing Alita, a cyborg almost more human than machine, was set to make US$27.8 million for the Friday-to-Sunday period and an additional US$5.2 million for Monday’s President’s Day holiday.

The computer-animated adaptation of a Japanese cyberpunk manga story has big names behind it, directed by Robert Rodriguez and produced by James Cameron.

The project, 20 years in the making, also has a sizable budget — US$170 million.

The Fox film beat out last weekend’s leader, The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part, which earned Warner Bros an estimated US$21.2 million in ticket sales for the first three days of the weekend and US$27.3 million when Monday is included.

In third was another Warner Bros film, Isn’t It Romantic?.

Fourth place went to Paramount’s What Men Want.

And in fifth was Happy Death Day 2U from Universal. Jessica Rothe again plays the role of a young woman living and reliving the day of her murder.