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Alita: Battle Angel Gets Huge Online Push For A Sequel From Fans

Alita: Battle Angel sequel trends online as fans campaign for Alita 2 even though the franchise is now owned by the Mouse House.

Alita Battle Angel

If you were doing a fan poll for the most beloved movies of 2019, one of the leading contenders would be Alita: Battle Angel. Released a little over a year ago, the sci-fi epic earned a respectable $85 million at the domestic box office and a solid $400 million worldwide. That’s a decent return, especially for a February release.

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The problem is, the movie cost upwards of $200 million after marketing. So, while it may have slightly exceeded expectations financially, did it make enough to warrant a sequel? The fans certainly think so. And they responded the only way they know how: through social media. Even one of the producers on the first film is encouraging them to speak out.

No doubt fueled by the pic’s recent release on HBO, folks took to Twitter this week to demand a sequel with the hashtag #AlitaSequel. They posted photos, memes and suggestions for future follow-ups and all in all, there were more than 20,000 tweets about the subject. Some fans even started a crowdfunding campaign a few weeks ago.

https://twitter.com/EnigmaSeekerX/status/1225671430760620034

https://twitter.com/UrielsMachine/status/1225651533770969088

Alita Battle Angel

Alita: Battle Angel is based off of a 1990 manga called Battle Angel Alita and follows a cyborg who must discover her past and fully realize what she’s capable of to protect the ones she loves. After Titanic, James Cameron had two projects he was going to consider directing: Avatar and Alita: Battle Angel. He ultimately went with the former and gave Alita to Robert Rodriguez.

Personally, I found the film to be visually stunning, but ultimately somewhat hollow due to forgettable characters and a mediocre script. And of course, they teased a sequel at the end by revealing the true mastermind of the story. But who knows if we’ll ever get to see him or Alita (played wonderfully by Rosa Salazar) again. The sci-fi film was produced by 20th Century Fox, which is now 20th Century Studios and owned by Disney. And the franchise carries a hefty price tag due to the heavy use of CGI, especially with the lead character.

Disney already has plenty of profitable franchises, too: Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar and their live-action remakes. They might be able to afford taking a risk on an Alita: Battle Angel sequel then, but for $200 million? Probably not.