Christoph Waltz still wishes to earn Alita: Battle Angel 2, but suspects it may not happen now that Disney owns the house. Because they purchased Fox (that was finalized annually ), the Mouse House has gained control over lucrative sci-fi franchises like Alien, Predator, and Planet of the Apes, in addition to James Cameron’s mega-tentpole Avatar. They also hold the rights to some other sci-fi job from the Terminator filmmaker in the form of Alita: Battle Angel, a live-action version of the cyberpunk manga/anime that Cameron developed for many years before handing it off to Robert Rodriguez to direct instead.
Launched in February 2019 (roughly a month before Disney formally acquired Fox), Alita: Battle Angel celebrities Rosa Salazar as the titular hero, a cyborg who awakens in the 26th century with no memory of her past but is aided by the kindly scientist Dr. Dyson Ido (Waltz). Using the rule of thumb that a film should double its funding to make a profit, Alita was a small hit but a victory nonetheless, taking in $405 million at the box office on a $170 million funding. Regardless of this, a sequel has yet to be announced and Waltz supposes it’s more to do with the franchise’s newest owners than anything else.
Released in February 2019 (about a month earlier Disney officially obtained Fox), Alita: Battle Angel stars Rosa Salazar as the titular hero, a cyborg who awakens in the 26th century with no memory of her previous but is aided by the kindly scientist Dr. Dyson Ido (Waltz). Using the old rule of thumb that a film should double its funding to produce a profit,” Alita was a small hit but a victory nonetheless, taking in $405 million at the box office on a $170 million funding. Regardless of this, a sequel has not yet been declared and Waltz supposes it has to do with the franchise’s new owners than anything else.
It stands to reason Waltz is about Disney being the largest roadblock to Alita two right now. After their purchase, the studio declared some developing Fox films (including their big-budget Mouse shield adaptation) and continues to be reluctant to green-light anything new that isn’t part of an extremely-profitable new like Avatar. Alita, as stated, is directly on the cusp; the first movie performed well, but nowhere near the box office amounts Disney earns from its live-action remakes or IPs like the MCU and Star Wars, so the studio includes just so much incentive to develop a followup. At the same time, the film brought in reviews that are decent, together with critics praising its stunning visuals and the way it unites Cameron’s sci-fi interests with Rodriguez’s themes about course. Moviegoers were likewise receptive and have been calling for a payoff to Alita’s sequel tease ever since.
Case in point: back in February, fans got #AlitaSequel trending on Twitter in a bid to encourage Disney to green-light the undertaking. Some of these went a step further as well as paid to fly a banner promoting Alita: Battle Angel 2 within the 2020 Oscars ceremony a few days later. In addition to all that, Salazar (like Waltz) is on the record stating she would like to go back for the screenplay, and producer Jon Landau has lent his support for these fan efforts by reassuring them to keep pestering Disney with requests to make it happen. Suffice it to say, there is an audience that wants more Alita; whether it is large enough to have the Mouse House’s attention, that’s another matter.