Producer Jon Landau, who worked on the upcoming long-awaited film Avatar: The Way of Water, was recently in London for its premiere. The sequel to 2009’s Avatar has been on countless minds for quite a while now, so energy and emotions were running high when an interviewer asked him about any other projects he might be working on. Landau wasn’t even specifically asked about Alita: Battle Angel, but his answer to the question is pretty promising, considering it was his idea to bring it up.
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“Well there’s a little film called Alita: Battle Angel that we’d love to circle back and do a sequel to,” Landau said when speaking to Deadline on the red carpet, “and I’ve been talking to Robert [Rodriguez] about that and hopefully that comes to fruition.” This caught the ear of the reporter, who proceeded to ask when audiences could expect to see the sequel. “I never put a timeframe on anything because you guys will hold it against me,” Landau answered with a mischievous smile.
Directed by Hollywood legend Robert Rodriguez, Alita: Battle Angel sees Rosa Salazar as the titular cyborg who’s suffering from amnesia after being discovered and revived by Dr. Dyson Ido (Christoph Waltz). As Alita sets out to discover her destiny, she uncovers conspiracies, criminal activity, and her own father figure’s less-than-savory past. She falls in love with a young man and joins a deadly sport throughout her journey, which ultimately leads to a cliffhanger teasing her new quest for revenge.
Fans have been asking for an Alita: Battle Angel sequel for years, which isn’t surprising given the film’s higher success with fans than critics. While it was Rodriguez’s highest-grossing film, those numbers still didn’t end up translating to much more than breaking even, leaving many to question the practicality of producing a sequel. But apparently, Landau seems to have seen that same potential that viewers saw.
If a sequel to Alita: Battle Angel really is in the works, it’s still quite a ways off. Landau clearly didn’t want to raise anybody’s hopes too much. But he also holds some optimism for the project, and that’s definitely more hope than fans had yesterday. So here’s hoping he gets Rodriguez on board and revives this cult hit just like its robotic star.
Alita: Battle Angel is now available on Hulu in the U.S. and Disney Plus in Canada.
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Source: Deadline/Twitter
