There have been rumblings online about a possible Alita: Battle Angel sequel since it was released in 2019, but with no official word on whether the franchise has a future at Disney, any rumours should be taken with a pinch of salt.
Now, though, we have a promising update directly from franchise producer James Cameron (who originally planned to helm Alita: Battle Angel before passing the reigns to Robert Rodriguez in order to focus on his Avatar sequels).
Talking to Forbes (via SFFGazette.com) about why he's selling his mansion in California, the filmmaker casually dropped his sequel plans into the conversation.
"On Avatar, I’m working in Wellington and Los Angeles," Cameron said. "And on the new Alita: Battle Angel films, I’ll be working in Austin, so it just didn’t make sense for us anymore."
Clearly, we're getting not one but two sequels, news we know many of you will welcome. This comes after various minor updates in recent months, and after Avatar: The Way of Water's massive success, we're sure Disney will be open to giving Cameron free rein with revisiting this sci-fi franchise.
Alita: Battle Angel was a success at the box office with a $405 million haul globally, but received mixed reviews from critics. Cameron produced and co-wrote the movie, so he's no doubt found it easy to convince the studio it's a property worth revisiting providing he remains closely involved.
We'll see what happens, but with fans making it clear they're interested in a sequel, it appears Disney has finally taken note. Whether another Alita movie is a worthwhile investment is hard to say, especially as the first had a reported production budget of $150 million - $200 million.
However, if Cameron's comments are anything to go by, we'd imagine the sequels will be shot back-to-back, a cost-cutting measure which could make an expansion of the VFX-heavy franchise a more appealing prospect to the House of Mouse.
Stay tuned to SFFGazette.com for updates.