There isn't a much more interesting box office story out there than Alita: Battle Angel, a film that is performing more than admirably but still fighting an uphill battle against its own $200 million price tag. Directed by Robert Rodriguez but also directed by James Cameron if the font size on the billboard is to be believed (the Avatar creator actually produced and co-wrote the script with Rodriguez and Laeta Kalogridis), Alita snagged another $33 million over the weekend, bringing its four-day domestic total to $41.7 million.

That's fantastic news if you're only looking at the estimates, which had Alita debuting somewhere around $29 million. A lot of predictions had the movie going the way of Mortal Engines, a similarly massive, similarly CGI-heavy spectacle with a big-name producer in Peter Jackson that straight up capital-B Bombed, stalling out with $15 million domestically on a $100 million. But all is not lost for Alita quite yet; the film has already brought in $94 million overseas, with premieres still to come in China and Japan on February 22.

The good news for Alita is that it's at least fending off The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part in the animated sequel's second weekend. Despite so-so reviews, director Mike Mitchell's follow-up to the surprise hit LEGO Movie dropped just 37% to bring in another $21 million, totaling $62 million.

Meanwhile, newcomer comedy Isn't It Romantic opened in third with a $14 million weekend, bringing its domestic total to $20 million. The horror sequel Happy Death Day 2U wasn't as lucky with $9.8 million, premiering in fourth behind What Men Want's $10 million sophomore weekend.

Over at the specialty box office, Stephen Merchant's pro wrestling comedy Fighting With My Family, based on the true-life story of Saraya "Paige" Bevis, opened promisingly on four screens for $131, 625.

Check out the weekend's top 10 estimates below, and be back here next week to see if How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World has any fire in it.

Rank

Title

Weekend

Total

1.

Alita: Battle Angel 

$33,000,000

$41,700,000

2.

The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part       

$21,215,000

$62,690,359

3.

Isn't It Romantic        

$14,210,000

$20,455,347

4.

What Men Want 

$10,920,000

$36,150,328

5.

Happy Death Day 2U     

$9,816,000

$13,527,500

6.

Cold Pursuit       

$6,000,000

$21,122,332

7.

The Upside        

$5,590,000

$94,197,031

8.

Glass      

$3,859,000

$104,489,915

9.

The Prodigy     

$3,150,065

$11,015,539

10.

Green Book    

$2,751,000

$65,756,401

the-lego-movie-2-image-emmet
Image via Warner Bros.
isnt-it-romantic-rebel-wilson-5
Image via New Line Cinema
happy-death-day-2u-jessica-rothe
Image via Universal Pictures