It has now been six years since audiences were introduced to the cyberpunk world of director Robert Rodriguez’s action outing, Alita: Battle Angel. After waiting patiently, the filmmaker has now revealed the news that fans want to hear.
Appearing recently on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast, the director declared that he is still fighting to return to the Iron City and get Alita: Battle Angel 2 made. While he was short on details regarding where they are in the production process, if they are anywhere at all, Rodriguez did reveal that one of the main sets is still standing, and he’s eager to bring the next chapter in the Alita saga to the big screen.
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“Yeah, we want to do another one for sure.
You gotta come to my studio. That whole city is still in my parking lot. 20-foot ceilings, seven streets. It’s like the largest standing set in the country, if not the world.”
The Passion for ‘Alita: Battle Angel 2’ Is Palpable
Released back in 2019, Alita: Battle Angel is based on Yukito Kishiro’s manga “Gunnm.” Directed by Robert Rodriguez from a script by James Cameron and Laeta Kalogridis, Alita: Battle Angel stars Rosa Salazar as the titular Alita, a young girl and battle cyborg who awakens with no memory of who she is in a future world she does not recognize. The rest of the cast includes Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly, Mahershala Ali, Ed Skrein, Jackie Earle Haley, Keean Johnson, and Edward Norton, and you can check out the official synopsis for the sci-fi action outing below.
“Set several centuries in the future, the abandoned Alita is found in the scrapyard of Iron City by Ido, a compassionate cyber-doctor who takes the unconscious cyborg Alita to his clinic. When Alita awakens, she has no memory of who she is, nor does she have any recognition of the world she finds herself in. As Alita learns to navigate her new life and the treacherous streets of Iron City, Ido tries to shield her from her mysterious past.”
The first Alita: Battle Angel has since garnered a supremely passionate following who have branded themselves the ‘Alita Army’ and continue to fight for the sequel. But it’s not just Rodriguez and The Alita Army who want to see a sequel made. James Cameron is also on board, with the Avatar director revealing back in 2022 that he and Rodriguez had sworn a blood oath to get Alita 2 to screens, no matter how long it takes.
If that were not already enough to convince you of the eagerness for Alita 2, lead star Rosa Salazar has previously declared her desire to return to the franchise, saying in 2023 that she is “so down” with reprising the title tole and has been harassing the likes of Robert Rodrigeuz and James Cameron to get things moving.
“I harass them all the time. Like, it might become a legal issue soon. I email with James Cameron a lot. … And he’s always like, ‘I’m so down.’ Which is crazy to hear someone like James Cameron be like, ‘I’m so down!’ When we were in South by Southwest, I went over to Robert (Rodriguez)’s house and had tea, and was just talking about Alita.”
Source: The Joe Rogan Experience