Count me as one of those who absolutely loves Alita: Battle Angel and have been championing a sequel since it opened early last year. While Robert Rodriguez’s adaptation of the hit cyberpunk manga wasn’t a gigantic hit, it did make over $400M worldwide and featured a dynamic CGI performance by Rosa Salazar. Petitions for another movie have been backed by the cast, and perhaps they are finally being listened to because Alita is coming back to theaters.
Writer/producer James Cameron tweeted the news of Alita: Battle Angel‘s return to theaters on October 30th. Why? Perhaps this is a test run to see if enthusiasm is still there for the futuristic flick about a cyborg girl fighting to learn about her mysterious past.
We're with you #AlitaArmy — Alita's coming back to the big screen on October 30th. pic.twitter.com/F9JOSX8orb
— James Cameron (@JimCameron) October 7, 2020
Along with Salazar, the cast included Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly, Mahershala Ali, Ed Skrein, Jackie Earle Haley, and Keean Johnson. The film was directed by Robert Rodriguez, with a script co-written by Laeta Kalogridis.
A potential fly in the ointment is that Alita: Battle Angel is already available on home release. So who in their right mind is going to risk the pandemic for something they can safely watch from their couch? That said, we don’t know which theaters the movie will be in, and if released internationally, where new releases are still scarce, it could easily make some big money and who is Disney to turn down the chance to build another successful franchise?
Fingers crossed.