More than twenty years is the time required for the development ofAlita: Battle Angel. In 1999, James Cameron acquired the rights to adapt the Gunnm manga by Yukito Kishiro. The director of Terminator has not yet explored Pandora and the journey of her tribes, he intends to devote himself to this dystopia, developing on Earth, devastated after the impact of a meteorite on its surface.
In front of his camera, he intends to tell the story of Gali, a cyborg head found by a doctor who will little by little reconnect with his warrior instincts. In 2003, he announced the start of the project, which was supposed to combine real and 3D photos. But in the meantime, his Avatar saga is a real hit, and he should be busy developing several sequels. If Alita: Battle Angel will be able to take advantage of the technological advances of Avatar, the first of its name, the film must find a new director. Robert Rodriguez was cast, Cameron and his partner John Landau were pleased with the production.
The film was released in February 2019, starring Rosa Salazar as Alita (Gally) and Christoph Waltz as Dr. Dyson. Battle Angel then shows budget at 170 million dollars (excluding marketing costs) and box office that hardly exceeds 400 million. This first exploration of the universe, created by Yukito Kishiro, struggles to achieve the goals set by 20th Century Studios (which has since become a subsidiary of Disney).
The sequel was therefore far from certain. Amateurs hoped for it the success ofAvatar 2 don’t put it back Alita at the heart of the discussions. This is half-heartedly confirmed by James Cameron in an interview for Forbes.
Better twice than once
Asked about the sale of Ranch in California, the director admits that the move is closely related to his projects in development. “I’m working on Avatar in Wellington and Los Angeles. And now, for the new Alita: Battle Angel, I’m going to be working in Austin (keeping that editor’s note in house) really doesn’t make sense anymore.”. However, he did not dwell on the subject, suggesting that such a return is not planned in the near future. It must be said that the director has a lot of work, he continues his research on the distant planet and the history of its inhabitants.
Robert Rodriguez also recently confirmed that writing is underway. He trusted accelerator last May that Disney’s takeover of Fox had dented its hopes, but that the studio’s renewed activity was a good sign. “We were talking about how we’ve always wanted to do a sequel to Alita. He (James Cameron’s ed.) very carefully drew the outlines of a second and a third film. So there is work to be done. So yes, we hope it happens, but nothing is final.”. Officially, Disney has not yet given the green light to such a saga. We’ll have to wait for a big fanfare announcement to be sure.