2019's Alita: Battle Angel, starring Rosa Salazar as the titular hero — a cyborg trying to uncover the secrets of her past in a future civilization divided by corrupt social classes — looked on paper to be the makings of a new Science-Fiction franchise. Based on Japanese Manga, Alita: Battle Angel, directed by Robert Rodriguez, and written and produced by James Cameron, was praised for its high-octane action set-pieces and visceral visual effects, but a sequel to the film was thought to be unlikely thanks to lukewarm reviews and a middling performance at the box-office, until now. Speaking to Deadline at the London World Premiere for Avatar: The Way of Water, the film's producer Jon Landau, who also produced Alita: Battle Angel, spoke of his desire to get a sequel in the works.Landau was asked on the red carpet whether he had any other films besides Avatar sequels that he will be working on in the near future, to which Landau replied; "Well there's a little film called Alita: Battle Angel which we'd love to circle back and do a sequel to, and I've been talking to Robert [Rodriguez] about that and hopefully that comes to fruition." The reporter responds to Landau by asking when audiences can expect an Alita: Battle Angel sequel, to which Landau replies "I never put a timeframe on anything because you guys will hold it against me." Landau's tongue-in-cheek response could be the veteran producer simply holding his cards close to his chest, but given that he is yet to approach director Robert Rodriguez about making an Alita: Battle Angel sequel, the likely scenario is that such a film is several years away from hitting theaters.Alita: Battle Angel centers on the aforementioned cyborg Alita (Salazar), who is found clinging to life by Dr. Ido (Christoph Waltz) who raises Alita in the futuristic underground world of Iron City, ravaged after a centuries-old war. Alita has little recollection of her past before living with Ido, but slowly discovers her background and her role to play in this new world via a battle-royale style game called Motorball, as well as via bounty hunters, and the villainous Vector (Mahershala Ali) who presides over the sky city of Zalem, home only to the wealthy and those who win the Motorball tournament.
Caught in the crossfire of the Disney/Fox merger, which was completed approximately a month after the film's February 19, 2019 release, Alita: Battle Angel stalled at the box office, grossing just $85.8 million domestically and a further $319 million overseas on an estimated budget of $170 million. In short, the film wasn't a financial success, so new talks of a sequel may come as a surprise, albeit a pleasant one for campaigners on Twitter behind #AlitaArmy, who have been calling out for a sequel for some time.Jon Landau was talking up the prospect of an Alita: Battle Angel sequel at the December 6 London World Premiere of Avatar: The Way of Water, which hits theaters on December 16. Alita: Battle Angel is currently available to stream on Hulu. Fancy a refresher now this exciting sequel talk is out in the open? Look no further than the Alita: Battle Angel trailer below, along with Landau's revelation at the Avatar: The Way of Water premiere.