Fans have been trying to convince 20th Century Studios to make a sequel to Alita: Battle Angel for years now. And, according to director Jon Landau, a sequel to the movie is officially in development.
This was shared by Landau who recently spoke with ScreenRant about the project. “We’re working on it,” Landau says, before going into more detail about the project.
Interestingly, Landau claims that their work on Avatar is part of what makes Alita: Battle Angel 2 even possible. Here’s what he had to say on that front:
“I think what we’ve learned from Avatar is how much more facial nuance and subtlety that we can get into characters that we want to be emotional and emote that are humanoid,” he explains. “Alita would not have been possible, but for what we did on Avatar. Avatar: The Way of Water would not be what it is but what we did for Alita. And now let’s put that back and give it back to Alita.”
Of course, fans may be wondering if original director Robert Rodriguez and star Rosa Salazar are involved. Landau delivers good news about both of them.
“We’re talking to Robert [Rodriguez, who directed the original] and talking to Rosa [Salazar, who portrayed Alita] and all is good.”
As such, it looks like the project is only in the early stages of development. But it’s still a positive sign for fans that were hopeful a sequel could still happen. Now, with Jon Landau, Robert Rodriguez, and Rosa Salazar involved, everything seems to be pointing in the right direction.
Stay tuned to ScreenGeek for any additional updates on the Alita: Battle Angel sequel as we have them. The first film was released in 2019. With a budget of around $150 million to $200 million, the film managed to bring in $405 million at the worldwide box office. The film is based on the classic Japanese cyberpunk manga series Gunnm.