Directed by Robert Rodriguez from a script by Laeta Kalogridis and producer James Cameron, the manga adaptation Alita: Battle Angel (watch it HERE) made a respectable amount at the box office, pulling in over $400 million – although I'm sure distributor 20th Century Fox would have liked it to make a bit more, since they had given the film a $170 million budget. It's not clear if Fox would have decided to move forward with a sequel; after all, 2017's The Mummy made slightly more on a lower budget and was still considered enough of a failure that Universal gave up on their Dark Universe plans. But Fox merged with Disney right after Alita reached theatres, so the decision of whether or not to make a Battle Angel 2 is now up to Disney.
There are a lot of fans out there who are hoping for a sequel, and producer Jon Landau has encouraged them to let Disney know they want to see Alita again. Rosa Salazar, who played Alita herself, has said that she "would play Alita 'til my last breath". Speaking with Forbes, Rodriguez said he would be on board for a sequel as well – and when asked if he thinks it could happen for Disney's streaming service Disney+, he replied,
I think anything is possible. Disney bought Fox, and they have Disney+, so that is worth the conversation. I know other people would love to see another, and I would love to do another one. As far as where it would go or how it would be made, I think streaming has opened up many opportunities such as sequels. It's already a pre-sold concept, it's already got a built-in audience that wants to see it, and then it's delivered to them in a way that's the easiest for them to consume. So, it's not a bad idea."
Since Rodriguez has already worked on the Disney+ series The Mandalorian, it's possible that having an established working relationship could be helpful in getting an Alita follow-up onto the service.
Set several centuries in the future, Alita: Battle Angel begins when
the abandoned Alita is found in the scrapyard of Iron City by Ido, a compassionate cyber-doctor who takes the unconscious cyborg Alita to his clinic. When Alita awakens, she has no memory of who she is, nor does she have any recognition of the world she finds herself in. As Alita learns to navigate her new life and the treacherous streets of Iron City, Ido tries to shield her from her mysterious past.
Salazar was joined in the cast by Christoph Waltz as Ido; Keean Johnson as her street smart friend Hugo; Mahershala Ali, who plays two different characters, one of whom is Vector, who "runs and fixes matches in a gladiator-style combat game called Motorball"; Jennifer Connelly as one of the villains; Jorge Lendeborg Jr. as a friend to Hugo; Jackie Earle Haley, Ed Skrein, and Eiza González as villainous cyborgs; Leonard Wu as another cyborg; Lana Condor as an orphaned photographer; Marko Zaror as Motorball player Ajakutty; and Michelle Rodriguez as the cyborg Gelda.