Directors James Cameron and Robert Rodriguez are more eager than ever to bring a sequel to Alita: Battle Angel to the big screen, with the pair swearing a blood oath that they will make the movie a reality. The filmmakers exchanged fluids during a director-on-director interview courtesy of Variety, during which Cameron revealed that there is still plenty of story to be told, and many intricate details still to be revealed in the world of Alita.
“For me, it’s a journey of discovery. You set down a path, and you’ve got some vague goals in mind. I just start writing a lot of notes. But you know this, because I gave you 600 pages of notes on “Alita” — about the world and how cyborgs work. I don’t know how helpful any of that was, but that’s my process.”
Cameron and Rodriguez committing to Alita: Battle Angel 2 is just one of several promising updates regarding the much-desired project. Producer Jon Landau recently revealed that conversations are currently taking place regarding the further adventures of the Battle Angel saying, "There's a little film called Alita: Battle Angel that we would love to circle back and do a sequel to, and been talking to Robert [Rodriguez] about that and hopefully that comes to fruition."
While the first Alita: Battle Angel proved to be a moderate critical and financial success at the time, it has since garnered an enormously passionate fanbase. Dubbing themselves the Alita Army, the group has launched petitions, viral campaigns, and even flown a banner stating their desire for Alita: Battle Angel 2 over the Academy Awards ceremony back in 2020, as well as commissioning several billboards in Los Angeles to highlight their cause.
The First Alita: Battle Angel Ends with a Tease of Things to Come...
Released in 2019, directed by Robert Rodriguez, and produced by James Cameron, Alita: Battle Angel is based on Yukito Kishiro's manga Gunnm and follows a young girl named Alita, a battle cyborg who awakens with no memory of who she is in a future world she does not recognize. She is taken in by Ido, a compassionate doctor who realizes that somewhere in this abandoned cyborg shell is the heart and soul of a young woman with an extraordinary past. Starring Rosa Salazar as the title character, who she portrays through performance-capture animation, Alita: Battle Angel also features Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly, Mahershala Ali, Ed Skrein, Jackie Earle Haley, and Keean Johnson.
The first movie ends with a major tease of things to come, with Alita pledging vengeance against the world’s oppressors to the cheers of the crowd. Boasting all manner of sci-fi action, Alita: Battle Angel feels like an unfinished story, hinting at a wider mythology that has yet to be explored.
With James Cameron and Robert Rodriguez now making a blood oath which, as we all know, will result in dire consequences should it not be met, audiences are getting ever closer to seeing Alita: Battle Angel 2 come to fruition.