Alita: Battle Angel officially headed onto DVD, Digital and Blu-ray last month. It was a late release for the movie starring Rosa Salazar and Christoph Waltz that came out way back in February. In all the time since we haven’t heard a peep from Disney about greenlighting Alita: Battle Angel 2, despite there being interest from director Robert Rodriguez in making a sequel.
This is possibly because the movie was totally a bubble film in terms of being a hit or a miss in theaters, as its large budget and only middling box office have made a sequel a question mark, despite there being plenty of fans of Alita: Battle Angel. Star Rosa Salazar says the real reason may have to do more with the Disney-Fox merger.
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’d be remiss if I didn’t point out that Rosa Salazar is not a person having these behind-the-scenes conversations at Disney. Still, she does have a point in her comments to Slashfilm: There have been a lot of projects that have been delayed and even cancelled since the Disney and Fox merger. A lot of people have also lost their jobs as departments within the company have consolidated. In that way, perhaps no news on Alita: Battle Angel 2 is good news.
Still, Alita: Battle Angel has an avid #AlitaArmy who really hope for a sequel and have been taking to social media to push the movie during its home video release window. They aren’t the only ones, either.
Previously, we spoke with Rosa Salazar at Comic-Con 2019 and she told us she really loves the way she gets to play characters like Alita due to the range of stuff she gets to do to bring them to life on the screen. She told CinemaBlend:
I like leaving this body behind and creating someone completely new, that exists in another dimension. That is wholly her own person, her own creation. I want to do more of that, whether it be another Alita, whether it be 17 more seasons of Undone, which I hope happens. Look, if my career could just be Alita and Undone, I’d love that.
Rosa Salazar will hopefully have more job prospects coming up beyond Alita and Undone. (She allegedly has The Bang Bang Girls and Pink Skies Ahead in development right now.) Regardless, it’s clear she loved getting to play Alita. It’s also clear that Alita: Battle Angel clearly sets up its final story to lead into a sequel. So, now it’s just about getting Disney to sit up and pay attention.
Just don’t try calling Alan Horn right now, because not only would that be a difficult task, if Rosa Salazar is correct, it would be an unfruitful one. There's a lot of ducks the studio needs to get in a row as we eke closer and closer to 2019.
Alita: Battle Angel is currently available on DVD, Blu-ray and Digital, and even a Limited Edition Collector's Set for those major fans.
