After a couple of delays and a ton of hype, the James Cameron-produced and Robert Rodriguez-directed action film “Alita: Battle Angel” arrived in theaters earlier this year. The reception to the film was mixed with only a 61% on Rotten Tomatoes, but fans that enjoyed the film really enjoyed it. There was even a campaign to encourage folks to see ‘Alita’ instead of “Captain Marvel” (both were playing at the same time).
However, that enthusiasm from the fans didn’t necessarily translate to a massive box office run and thus, discussions of a sequel have been relatively quiet. But according to a new interview from /Film with the film’s star, Rosa Salazar, she’s ready, willing, and able to portray Alita until she’s an old lady.
“I would play Alita ‘til my last breath,” Salazar said. “I would, and thanks to the performance capture technology, I probably could.”
So, if you have a film that had a fairly decent run at the box office with a worldwide gross of $405 million (sadly, probably not as much as a film that cost upwards of $170 million would have liked to earn) and a star that is amped on returning, you would think that there would at least be some discussion of a sequel.
Unfortunately, it appears that Salazar hasn’t heard any word on a sequel, but thinks that fans can urge the studio to move forward if they vote with their money.
“Not yet, but buy those Blu-rays,” Salazar said. “But no, I haven’t heard anything yet.”
READ MORE: ‘Alita: Battle Angel’ Is A Noble, Jaw-Dropping Spectacle [Review]
One of the complications with a possible “Alita 2” is the fact that the studio that released the film, Fox, is now a subsidiary of Disney. And as we’ve seen with some recent announcements, Disney isn’t too keen with keeping Fox projects that aren’t surefire box office smashes around.
Salazar is obviously aware of this and said, “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?’”
I’ve never met Alan Horn myself, who happens to be the Co-Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of Walt Disney Studios, but I’m guessing any phone conversation that begins with “hey bro” isn’t likely going to end with him being receptive about your proposition. But hey, maybe if you’re the star of a James Cameron epic, you can throw formality out of the window.
If you want to take Salazar’s advice and support ‘Alita,’ the film is now available on digital, Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K.