Alita: Battle Angel Director Robert Rodriguez Provides Update On A Possible Sequel

John F. Trent |

Aug 30, 2021

Director Robert Rodriguez and Pedro Pascal on the set of THE MANDALORIAN, season 2, exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Francois Duhamel. ©2020 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.

Alita: Battle Angel director Robert Rodriguez recently provided an update on a possible sequel for the film based on the manga Gunm created by Yukito Kishiro that began back in 1990.

Rodriguez spoke with The Nerdy Basement about the upcoming Mandalorian spin-off The Book of Boba Fett, which is he executive producing, but he was also asked about an Alita: Battle Angel sequel.

When asked about an Alita: Battle Angel sequel Rodriguez said, “I’m hoping I’m earning some point by doing so much for Disney, cause they own it now, and that’s why we weren’t able to jump right into the sequel, because of that whole thing. But now they are starting to release some of the Fox stuff.”

“I’m trying to see what happens with Boba Fett, I think that’s going to knock people’s socks off so when that happens I will go in and say, ok, I’ve been here for a while, let’s figure out how we can do Alita whether it’s for streaming or theatrical because it’s such a great property, people love it, I love it and Jim loves it,” he continued.

Rodriguez concluded, “We [Robert and Jim] just talked about it recently again, about how can we do this, what’s the best way to approach it, I think it’ll be me going in there with him to talk about it because I’m doing a lot of stuff for them [Disney] now.”

Rodriguez previously discussed the possibility of an Alita: Battle Angel sequel back in December. He spoke to Forbes contributor Simon Thompson telling him, “Disney bought Fox, and they have Disney+, so that is worth the conversation.” He continued, “I know other people would love to see another, and I would love to do another one.”

The director further elaborated, “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.”

The film’s star Rosa Salazar, who plays Alita, noted she would play the character forever. She stated back in July 2019, “I would play Alita ‘til my last breath.” She added, “I would, and thanks to the performance capture technology, I probably could.”

As for a sequel, she noted nothing would probably happen until after things settled down following the Disney and Fox merger. She explained, “Yeah, I mean, they had a crazy merger. People are gaining jobs, people are losing jobs. The whole Disney/Fox acquisition is so involved, this isn’t the right time for me to call Alan Horn and be like, ‘Hey bro, I know you got a lotta stuff going on, but like what about Alita 2?’”

Fans have gone to some pretty extraordinary lengths to get a sequel made. Back in 2020, The Alita Army successfully funded a banner to be flown over the 92nd Oscars reading #AlitaSequel and #AlitaArmy.

the alita army plane 😭 pic.twitter.com/CohAhfzRF5

— hedda (@beautravaiI) February 10, 2020

Alita: Battle Angel was released back in February 2019 by 20th Century Fox. The film earned $28.5 million in its opening weekend. It went on to earn $85.8 million at the domestic box office and a worldwide total of $401.9 million.

The-Numbers reports that the film also earned $23.7 million in domestic video sales. The production budget was $170 million.