It would seem that James Cameron is pretty confident that another Alita: Battle Angel movie is happening, as the filmmaker even revealed a shooting location. Directed by Robert Rodriguez and released in 2019, Alita: Battle Angel was co-written by Cameron and Laeta Kalogridis; Cameron also produced with Jon Landau. Based on the manga series Gunnm, the stop-motion film tells the story of Alita (Rosa Salazar), a cyborg who sets out on a journey to uncover her destiny when she awakens in a new body with no memories of her past.
Alita: Battle Angel was a big hitter at the box office, scoring over $405 million to become Rodriguez’s highest-grossing film. The movie also has an audience score of 92% on Rotten Tomatoes, another indication of how much filmoers enjoyed Alita. Many fans have been wanting to see a sequel in the years since the movie was released, and back in May, Rodriguez said that there were talks to do the movie with Cameron and Landau. Now, while speaking with Forbes about the ranch he’s selling, Cameron casually mentions how he’ll soon be working in Texas on Alita: Battle Angel 2, seemingly confirming that the sequel is now a go.
“And on Avatar, I’m working in Wellington and Los Angeles. And on the new Alita: Battle Angel films, I’ll be working in Austin, so it just didn’t make sense for us anymore,” Cameron said, explaining why the time was right to sell the ranch.
It’s interesting that Cameron said “films,” which may indicate that there are plans to make more than just one sequel to Alita: Battle Angel. Cameron didn’t provide any more clarification in the interview, so it remains to be seen if Alita: Battle Angel will end up becoming a trilogy – or perhaps an even longer movie series, such as Cameron has been plotting out with the Avatar franchise.
Rosa Salazar Wants to Return
We can be sure that Rosa Salazar will also want to be back on board in Alita: Battle Angel 2. Last year, she admitted that she’d been “harassing” Cameron about doing the movie, noting that the producer had always told her, “I’m so down.” She also commented on how much love she shares for the story with Cameron and Rodriguez.
“All three of us have so much love for it. It’s never outside of our line of vision, ever,” she told CinemaBlend. “Everything we do, we’re just sort of like, ‘How do we get back there?’ … We’re trying like hell to get her back out there because we know how much […] her story means so much to women, to young girls, to boys, to everybody. I think she represents something that transcends race, gender, all of that. So we’re working on it, man!”
Perhaps these efforts have finally paid off, now that Cameron is suggesting he will soon start filming in Austin. Even so, the announcement for the sequel hasn’t yet been officially made.
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
