Producer Jon Landau recently confirmed that a sequel to Alita: Battle Angel is in development. Now a new report claims that Disney’s Bob Iger only wants Alita: Battle Angel 2 to happen if James Cameron can direct.
This report comes via World of Reel. As they’ve shared, “Bob Iger has made it clear that the only way this will happen is if Cameron directs it himself and not original director Robert Rodriguez.”
It’s worth noting that James Cameron was initially attached to direct Alita: Battle Angel himself. But after becoming busy due to his work on Avatar and other such projects, Robert Rodriguez took over as director. As such, it would certainly be interesting if Cameron himself were to finally take on the project even if it was a sequel.
Though World of Reel also notes that Alita: Battle Angel 2 is far from the only project on his slate. Cameron is said to be directing an adaptation of Last Train from Hiroshima in between work on Avatar 3 and Avatar 4. As such, he could still choose to do that film instead, though he’s still “considering taking up Iger’s offer” regarding the Alita sequel.
As for Last Train from Hiroshima, James Cameron optioned the rights to it with his own money in 2010. The story, written by Charles Pellegrino, takes place “over two days and weaves together eyewitness accounts of the Japanese civilians and American pilots who experienced the atomic explosions firsthand.”
It’s clear that James Cameron is quite busy and we’ll have to see what his next project will end up being. At the very least, it looks like a sequel to Alita: Battle Angel has a higher chance of happening now than ever before. Stay tuned to ScreenGeek for any additional updates as we have them. Hopefully everything works out in the favor of the fans who’ve been eager for the continuation.