Alita: Battle Angel star Rosa Salazar says that she would love to return for multiple sequels, should they ever happen. After spending years stuck in early development, the live-action film adaptation of Yukito Kishiro's cyberpunk sci-fi manga series, Battle Angel Alita, finally hit theaters back in February. Directed by Robert Rodriguez and co-written by James Cameron, Alita: Battle Angel (as the movie was retitled) featured The Maze Runner trilogy's Rosa Salazar as Alita, a cyborg who awakens in a brand-new body with no memory of who she is or what she's designed to do.
Overall, the Alita movie was a modest success that earned mixed-to-positive reviews (its visuals were haled as ground-breaking; its story, not so much) and $405 million at the global box office against a $170 million budget, making it a profitable venture... if only just so. As as result, there's been some discussion among fans about the potential sequel(s) and whether it/they will actually end up getting made. For her part, however, Salazar is already more than ready to return to the Alita universe again.
In an interview with Cinemablend, Salazar explained that, as an actor, she's really enjoyed working on projects that use cutting-edge technology to tell their stories - in her case specifically, Alita and Amazon's series Undone (which is being brought to life through Rotoscope animation). So, naturally, when asked if she would return for more Alita movies, Salazar replied:
Look, yeah, of course. I would love to do that. Of course. But I will say this: I love this trend of being able to do something live-action, and being animated after the fact. I like having a way to completely escape my physical form in a way. I use it obviously, it’s my instrument. But I like leaving this body behind and creating someone completely new, that exists in another dimension. That is wholly her own person, her own creation. I want to do more of that, whether it be another Alita, whether it be 17 more seasons of Undone, which I hope happens. Look, if my career could just be Alita and Undone, I’d love that.
Alita, of course, left the door wide open for a sequel - so much so, in fact, that some critics have argued that the film doesn't really have a proper third act or ending. Regardless, it was always Cameron's intention to make multiple Alita movies (both before and after he passed the first installment on to Rodriguez to direct), and he's reportedly already mapped out the story for the next film or two. And while Alita wasn't a runaway success at the box office, it still turned a large enough profit to justify moving forward with a sequel. Problem is, there's a potentially insurmountable roadblock to the Alita sequel(s) in the form of the Disney-Fox acquisition.
In the months since Disney finalized its purchase of Fox's movie and TV show assets in March, the Mouse House has begun to restructure the latter by laying off employees and closing smaller divisions like Fox 2000. It's also been reported that Disney wants Fox to start focusing more on making mid-range films rather than big-budget movies (save for the obvious exceptions, like Cameron's Avatar sequels). In fact, they've already cancelled one such high-profile project (Fox's Mouse Guard comic book adaptation) for related reasons. Point being, the odds don't seem to be in favor of Alita 2 happening at the moment, despite Salazar's continued passion for the franchise.
Source: Cinemablend