Ambitious robot movie Alita: Battle Angel got something of a mixed critical reception when it was released back in 2019 — but the one thing even more formidable than the cyberpunk warrior herself is the legion of fans campaigning for a sequel.
Fortunately, the Avatar 2 press tour has produced win after win for ‘Alita’s Army,’ because not only has producer Jon Landau teased a sequel, but now, in a new interview with Variety, James Cameron and Robert Rodriguez have pledged their commitment too — albeit with a virtual blood oath.
The science fiction movie, which adapts its story of the amnesiac warrior cyborg from a 1990 manga, was directed by Rodriguez, while Cameron and Landau shared writing and producer duties.
Although glimmers of hope for an Alita sequel have been shared in the past, it’s not until now that Rodriguez, Cameron, and Landau have all publicly spoken about their intentions to make an Alita: Battle Angel 2 happen. Virtual blood oath or not — I certainly wouldn’t want to get on the wrong side of the Alita fandom.
Cameron’s and Rodriguez’s pledge wasn’t the only time Alita: Battle Angel was brought up in the Variety interview, which formed part of the outlet’s ‘Directors on Directors’ series. During the discussion, Cameron also shared some insight into his writing process for the first Alita movie.
“For me, it’s a journey of discovery,” he explained. “You set down a path, and you’ve got some vague goals in mind. I just start writing a lot of notes. But you know this, because I gave you 600 pages of notes on “Alita” — about the world and how cyborgs work. I don’t know how helpful any of that was, but that’s my process. I try to get to a granular level of what it’s like to live in that world.”
If you want to linger a little longer in the world of cyborgs, check out our guide to the best sci-fi series. Otherwise, if you want to see Cameron in action, check out our guide to the best James Cameron movies.