Alita: Battle Angel producer and longtime James Cameron collaborator Jon Landau offered fans an update on the potential Alita sequel film.
Landau, who is currently working with Cameron to promote Avatar: The Way of Water, helped make the first Alita film happen, with the Avatar director penning the script for the 2019 action flick.
After years of development hell, Alita: Battle Angel finally hit theaters almost four years ago, with The Book of Boba Fett showrunner Robert Rodriguez sitting in the director's chair. The film - which adapted Yukito Kishiro's manga series, Battle Angel Alita - was one of the biggest box office surprises of its release year, surpassing the $400 million mark at the box office.
Because of its position on the Fox side of the Disney/Fox deal, it was still a question if an Alita: Battle Angel 2 would end up happening after the merger. News earlier this year said that star Rosa Salazar, along with the film's creators, were "trying like hell" to make the sequel happen.
Well, fans have finally gotten a pretty promising update on the idea of an Alita: Battle Angel 2.
Alita: Battle Angel 2 in the Works
Speaking at the Avatar: The Way of Water premiere in the United Kingdom, Avatar producer and James Cameron collaborator Jon Landau offered a promising update on the Alita: Battle Angel sequel.
Landau told Deadline that aside from Avatar sequels, "there’s a little film called Alita: Battle Angel" that he (and Cameron) would "love to circle back and do a sequel:"
“Well, there’s a little film called 'Alita: Battle Angel' that we’d love to circle back and do a sequel to. And we’ve been talking to Robert [Rodriguez] about that, and hopefully, that comes to fruition."
When asked when fans can expect Alita: Battle Angel 2, the famed producer said:
"Look I’ll never put a time frame on anything because you guys will hold it against me.”
This is the first update in months after Alita star Rosa Salazar told Cinemablend that she wants to do more in that world and "[emails] with James Cameron a lot" about the project:
“I harass them all the time. Like, it might become a legal issue soon. I email with James Cameron a lot. … And he’s always like, ‘I’m so down.’ Which is crazy to hear someone like James Cameron be like, ‘I’m so down!’ When we were in South by Southwest, I went over to Robert (Rodriguez)’s house and had tea, and was just talking about Alita. All three of us have so much love for it. It’s never outside of our line of vision, ever."
Salazar said that they understand how much Alita's story means "to women, to young girls, to boys, to everybody," and that they were "working on it:"
"Everything we do, we’re just sort of like, ‘How do we get back there?’ … We’re trying like hell to get her back out there because we know how much, just like (Undone), her story means so much to women, to young girls, to boys, to everybody. I think she represents something that transcends race, gender, all of that. So we’re working on it, man!”
Will Alita: Battle Angel Actually Happen?
So now, Alita fans will be itching to know if and when a sequel to Battle Angel will actually happen. Despite the first film seemingly being thought of as lost to the Disney/Fox merger, it looks like the wheels on the franchise are turning again.
However, there is still one Pandora-sized obstacle still standing in the project's way. Co-writer and producer of the first film, James Cameron, is going to be very busy over the next few years, working on his Avatar sequels.
Now that The Way of Water is here, the iconic director will quickly get moving on Avatar 3, 4, and 5. And if each movie takes even a third of the time then it did to get a sequel in his sci-fi world, then he will be pretty occupied for at least the next decade or so.
But that doesn't completely shut down the idea that he would be involved. Alita: Battle Angel director Robert Rodriguez is ready to go for a sequel, and it seems like Cameron has his Avatar scripts at least roughly drafted out. If after The Way of Water, the Avatar director is looking for a bit of a break, the world of Alita might be the perfect detour.
