Divisive 2019 Blockbuster Action Movie Just Hit Hulu for July

After disappearing from Netflix’s content catalog earlier this year, one of 2019’s most divisive films is once again streaming.

Alita: Battle Angel, director Robert Rodriguez’s big-budget sci-fi film that is considered to be one of James Cameron’s biggest box office flops, joined Hulu’s streaming library at the start of the month.

Based on Yukito Kishiro’s manga series, Battle Angel Alita, the film is described as “an epic adventure of hope and empowerment” set centuries in the future. It centers around Alita (Rosa Salazar), a young cyborg who is discovered in the scrapyard of Iron City by compassionate cyber-doctor Ido (Christoph Waltz). After waking in a new body, Alita has no memory of who she is or recognition of the world she finds herself in. As she learns to navigate her new life and the treacherous streets of Iron City, Ido tries to shield her from her mysterious past.

Alita’s journey to the screen was a long-time coming, and ultimately less than desirable. The film was originally announced in 2003, but put on the backburner amid the success of Cameron’s Avatar franchise, per The Hollywood Reporter. More than a decade passed before the film once again gained momentum when Rodriguez came on board as director in 2015.

Alita eventually debuted in theaters in 2019, and while the film grossed a worldwide total of $405 million, it was not a box office success. The movie had a massive production budget between $150 and $200 million. However, marketing and other costs drove the total budget to anywhere between $400 and $500 million, outside analysts said at the time, meaning Alita either just barely broke even or entirely underperformed.

More than just a difficult box office performance, Alita wasn’t an initial hit with critics. The movie only holds a 61% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, where a critics consensus reads, “Alita: Battle Angel‘s story struggles to keep up with its special effects, but fans of futuristic sci-fi action may still find themselves more than sufficiently entertained.”

Despite all of the negatives, Alita was a hit among other audience members and holds a 91% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, and the film’s popularity has only seemed to grow in the six years since its release.

A sequel to the film is reportedly in the works, with Rodriguez sharing on the Joe Rogan Experience in May, “Yeah, we want to do another one for sure. That whole city is still in my parking lot. 20-foot ceilings, seven streets. It’s like the largest standing set in the country, if not the world.”

As fans await news on the anticipated sequel, they can now stream the original 2019 movie on Hulu.