20th Century Fox’s Alita: Battle Angel led the box office for the weekend, making its expected earnings even as the overall results found it to be the slowest Presidents Day weekend for Hollywood in fifteen years.
The Presidents Day weekend last year was strong with Black Panther filling seats. The top films in 2018 brought in $202 million for the weekend. But without any standout releases this year, this weekend earned a far smaller $109 million, according to Box Office Mojo.
Fox hoped to make at least $30 million in domestic sales over the Presidents Day weekend with Alita: Battle Angel, and that goal was met with a bit to spare. The Japanese Anime-inspired sci-fi actioner brought in over $36 million during the otherwise slow weekend. It earned an additional $94 million overseas but still has a ways to go to earn back its estimated $170 million budget.
Still, it seems likely that the film will at least earn back its production costs as it has yet to open in China and Japan. However, the film does not look like a runaway hit.
After a weaker than expected debut on February 9, WB’s The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part slipped into second place, earning an estimated $21 million to bring its total to over $62 million at home. The film has yet to hit several foreign markets.
Rebel Wilson’s romantic comedy, Isn’t It Romantic earned the number three slot with just over $14 million. Since its debut last Wednesday, the fantasy comedy has brought in $20.5 million domestically.
In its second weekend at theaters, Paramount’s comedy, What Men Want, pulled in at number four and earned an additional $10.9 million bringing the Taraji P. Henson vehicle to over $36 million for its U.S. release, easily earning back its $20 million price tag.
Rounding out the top five, Blumhouse Production’s mad killer pic Happy Death Day 2U earned $13.5 million for its debut weekend. The slasher film realized an additional $12 million overseas, giving the film a total take that quickly eclipsed its $9 million production costs.
Meanwhile, Universal’s Glass clocked in at the amazing $100 million mark, while DC’s Aquaman is still swimming in cash, now earning $331 million domestically and making it DC’s second top earner behind only 2017’s Wonder Woman ($412 million).
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.
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