A sequel to Alita: Battle Angel happening might depend upon how The Book of Boba Fett is received. Based on the manga series Battle Angel Alita and its original animated series spinoff, the movie is directed by Robert Rodriguez. It became the prolific director's highest-grossing movie when it was released in theaters in 2019, but because the project came with such a high budget, it wasn't overly profitable. This might be stalling plans for a potential sequel despite fans calling for one ever since.

Disney has since acquired the rights through its acquisition of Fox but with no apparent plans to develop a followup movie anytime soon. Meanwhile, Rodriguez has been working with Disney in recent years, serving as a director on The Mandalorian and the upcoming spinoff The Book of Boba Fett for Disney+. In a new interview with The Nerdy Basement, Rodriguez said how confident he is in the Boba Fett series delivering, and he's planning to pitch Alita: Battle Angel 2 to Disney if that turns out to be the case.

"I'm hoping I'm earning some point by doing so much for Disney, cause they own it now [they bought Fox], and that's why we weren't able to jump right into the sequel, because of that whole thing. But now they are starting to release some of the Fox stuff."

Based on the manga series Battle Angel Alita and its original animated series spinoff, Alita: Battle Angel stars an ensemble cast that includes Rosa Salazar, Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly, Mahershala Ali, and Jackie Earle Haley. Using performance-capture animation, the movie follows Alita (Salazar), a cyborg who awakens in a new body with no memory of her past. James Cameron co-wrote the script with Laeta Kalogridis.

Days before Alita: Battle Angel premiered in U.S. theaters, Rodriguez and Cameron said that they already have plans on where to take a potential sequel. It was also revealed that casing Edward Norton in a non-speaking role as Nova was intended to help set up Alita: Battle Angel 2, which is why we didn't see more of that character. There were also cameo appearances by Michelle Rodriguez and Jai Courtney which were also supposed to lead into part two.

"You tell a story, ultimately, so people can enjoy it. And I hope they do. If they are affected by it enough that they would take the time to go and start a campaign, that's like next level," Robert Rodriguez previously told Discussing Film of Alita's future. "It wasn't the perfect time to come out with it, but that the fans still didn't let anyone forget that they loved that movie. It's almost better than having a movie that does really well but no one remembers in six to eight years."

In a separate interview with Collider last year, star Christoph Waltz said, "Of course! Of course I would [return for a sequel]! But, you know, I'm as wise as you are. I haven't heard anything and I'm a little disappointed and surprised that I haven't heard a thing so far, because I know that it has followers. I know that people liked it and aside from what others said, I loved it and I liked working on it and I liked the result."

Perhaps, as Rodriguez has said, the best hope for Alita: Battle Angel 2 at this time is for The Book of Boba Fett to be a hit. The series will premiere on Disney+ in December 2021. This news comes to us from The Nerdy Basement.