Remember, The Matrix didn't do well at the box office either. This film will get what it deserves as word of mouth places it in the ranks of greatness.
shareMatrix did pretty well at the box office for a medium budget film that came out of nowhere and nobody new what the film was about. Even the advertising didn't tell you the content of the film.
Alita, you could watch half a minute of trailer and if you've seen enough films can predict the how the movie plays out. It captured nobodies imagination. Not even the script writers themselves.
Matrix cost $63 mill to make and made well over its budget back domestically. It had massive word of mouth and it became a cult classic because 1. It was good. 2. It pretty much changed cinema.
Alita, changed nothing, had no word of mouth. Generic as can be PG13 CGI action romp for the young adult crowd.
And as far as we know Alita is still in the red because the majority of box office came from overseas and mainly China where they only collect 25% or less box office money earned there.
It did woefully domestic where they really needed it, due to lack of word of mouth. It made zero impact.
Cult classic it will not be.
I never said it was on the level of The Matrix. I said it would be a cult classic. It's more on the level of Vampire Hunter D, or Ninja Scroll, both of which are cult classics. I used the Matrix example not because of how much or less money it made, but because of the "low critic ratings" upon it's theater release. The CGI in Alita does have many "bullet time" type breakthroughs as well as ton of detail paid to each character's cyborg functions, and that will be appreciated over time. Did you really think James Cameron would involve himself, and not make some astounding game changing graphics? Look again. Also, if you read the comments of the youtube trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cislZ9S0ocA, and sort by newest first, you can already see the word of mouth rising. I watch comments on movie trailers like this all the time, and i've rarely seen so much praise. People are very impressed with the how much emotion Alita, and her "heart" can evoke in them. That is why this movie will have a place: because it has "heart". :-)
shareI think Mortal Engines has a better chance of being a cult classic than Alita. It had no big names, relatively little publicity and was hammered by people refusing to see it because they found moving cites ridiculous.
Alita has big names and and trailers and James Cameron - but disappointed. Not hugely perhaps as far as the audience was concerned but it had a lot to live up to plus an annoying ending.
I saw both in the cinema and it might be a reflection of my own preconceptions and expectations but I prefered Mortal Engines.