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Robert Rodriguez Optimistic About Alita: Battle Angel 2 Happening At Disney
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Robert Rodriguez is hopeful about Alita: Battle Angel 2 happening at Disney+. Alita: Battle Angel is Rodriguez's 2019 blockbuster cyberpunk action film based on Yukito Kishiro's 1990s Battle Angel Alita manga series and its 1993 original video animation adaptation. The movie featured Rosa Salazar as the animated cyborg Alita, who wakes up in a new body with no memory of her past and subsequently embarks on a journey to learn about her identity and destiny. Alita: Battle Angel raked in $404 million worldwide, making it Rodriguez's highest-grossing film. The movie itself was not a major critical success, yet there was a considerable appreciation for Salazar's stunning performance.
Rodriguez and producer James Cameron had always intended for Alita: Battle Angel to spawn multiple sequels. But following Disney's acquisition of 20th Century Fox, which had produced and distributed Alita: Battle Angel as its last independent title, the plans for a follow-up feature were canned. Star Christoph Waltz suspected the sequel never materialized because the movie did not fit in with the "Disneyfication." Fans of the film, especially the online group Alita Army, however, quickly launched a campaign demanding a sequel. They appealed to Cinemark theatres to re-release the film before the end of 2020, arguing that the screenings will help revive interest in making Alita: Battle Angel 2. The campaign was backed by Cameron and Rodriguez and Alita: Battle Angel returned to Cinemark theatres on October 30. Rodriguez has since weighed in on the future of the movie.
While promoting his upcoming Netflix feature film We Can Be Heroes, Rodriguez revealed to Forbes his plans for an Alita: Battle Angel sequel. As per Rodriguez, now that Disney has its own streaming service in the form of Disney+, he is quite optimistic about returning to the Iron City. Rodriguez says that Disney+ has opened up the avenue for several franchise revivals and sequels. He believes that Disney knows that there is a default audience waiting for another Alita: Battle Angel movie, so it's quite likely that the entertainment conglomerate will greenlight a sequel to please the movie's ardent fans. Rodriguez said:
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"I think anything is possible. Disney bought Fox, and they have Disney+, so that is worth the conversation. I know other people would love to see another, and I would love to do another one. As far as where it would go or how it would be made, I think streaming has opened up many opportunities such as sequels. It’s already a pre-sold concept, it’s already got a built-in audience that wants to see it, and then it’s delivered to them in a way that’s the easiest for them to consume. So, it’s not a bad idea."
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Recently there have been whispers within the Alita Army about Disney discussing the possibility of launching both an Alita: Battle Angel sequel and a potential prequel series on Disney+. There is, however, no official confirmation about the same and Disney is also actively refraining from talking about some of the big-ticket projects that it has inherited from Fox. Disney's recent Investor Day, for instance, contained no mention of Avatar 2, which is an undisputed magnum opus. Perhaps, Disney is waiting for the right opportunity to discuss the titles it has acquired from Fox. So it will probably be a while before the fate of Alita: Battle Angel becomes clear.
Alita: Battle Angel was a futuristic sci-fi epic that left fans wanting more. Whatever the critical response to the movie may have been, the film demonstrated that Kishiro's cult manga series had a built-in base of admirers that yearned for his work to be adapted with zappy visuals. The original movie had performed quite well in Asian markets, including South Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, and China. So now that Disney+ is launching internationally, it could use Alita: Battle Angel 2 as bait to pique the interest of the movie's fans abroad.
