“It appears that sci-fi fans - those who claim they ‘like sci-fi very much’ - have increased in the Chinese market compared to last year,” notes Li, citing Fanink’s surveys. The local champion of Chinese New Year 2019 was Beijing Culture’s much-ballyhooed The Wandering Earth, “ China’s first big-budget sci-fi spectacle.” With $610 million earned and counting, the film has been seen and discussed by the bulk of the country’s moviegoing youth by now, and there has been considerable discussion on Chinese social media about excitement over the prospect of comparing Alita‘s sci-fi wizardry with the visual effects of the much-hyped domestic champion. This year, the dynamics could be slightly different. the year prior, Vin Diesel’s xXx: The Return of Xander Cage debuted to $61.9 million in the same frame). In years past, Hollywood titles that immediately follow the holiday have been known to benefit from some pent-up demand for Hollywood’s visual effects firepower (last year, Black Panther opened to a strong $67 million as the first post-Chinese New Year release from the U.S. “As of now, the movie’s First Choice surpassed the norm for Hollywood releases, possibly owing to the recent marketing campaign with James Cameron’s presence.”Īlita will be the first Hollywood film to open in China since the blackout on foreign film imports during the nation’s Lunar New Year holiday, a peak moviegoing period that Beijing reserves for the domestic industry’s gain. “Overall market heat of Alita: Battle Angel has noticeably grown over the past week,” says James Li, co-founder of Beijing-based film industry market research firm Fanink.
For at least a day, photos and discussion of the premiere - including the Chinese stars asking Cameron questions from the crowd - blanketed local social media. A similarly hefty return from the Middle Kingdom will be essential to Alita‘s overseas recovery effort.Ĭameron’s reputation in the market was evident in the starry audience the China premiere managed to pull in, which included many of the Beijing film industry’s biggest names, such as Zhang Yimou, Li Bingbing, Wuershan (director of Mojin: The Lost Legend), actress Tan Zhou (star of last summer’s blockbuster Dying to Survive) and Wang Sicong, the billionaire scion of Wanda boss Wang Jianlin. So far overseas, Alita is pacing roughly 5 percent ahead of Steven Spielberg’s 2018 sci-fi fantasy Ready Player One, which earned $455.2 million internationally, including more than $218 million in China. Fox insiders say the film needs to do $350 million at the global box office to break even, but financial sources put that figure at $450 million to $500 million.
17 weekend with an early foreign total of $94 million from 86 markets.īut the pic is hardly out of danger, considering its $170 million net budget and another $100 million-plus in worldwide marketing costs. Internationally, Alita, starring Salazar as a kick-ass cyborg, finished the Feb. On Monday, Cameron hosted the Chinese premiere of Alita at a Wanda cinemaplex in central Beijing, with stars Rosa Salazar and Christoph Waltz also in attendance, along with producer Jon Landau.ĭirected by Robert Rodriguez and co-written by Cameron, Alita: Battle Angel already cleared one hurdle when posting a six-day debut of $42.3 million in North America - $15 million to $20 million ahead of forecasts. Indeed, Fox is aggressively marketing Alita as a “James Cameron production” in China.
One of the strongest points in Alita‘s favor in China is the involvement of Cameron, who is arguably the country’s most revered filmmaker, thanks to the historic performances of Avatar ($204 million back in 2009, when China’s box office was a third of its current size) and the 3D rerelease of Titanic ($145 million in 2012). But as ever in this most unpredictable of territories, just how big remains to be seen. There are several reasons to be at least cautiously optimistic for a sizable showing for the 20th Century Fox pic in the Middle Kingdom. The financial fate of the James Cameron-produced Alita: Battle Angel faces a crucial test this weekend when it opens in China.