While there’s been no official announcement by any of the powers-that-be, hope continues to spring eternal for Alita: Battle Angel 2 to become a reality. Between producer Jon Landau and director Robert Rodriguez stoking the fires with updates, as well as James Cameron’s supposed confirmation of multiple sequels in the works, it’s hard not to feel that the question isn’t if, but when this sci-fi movie continuation will happen.
If frequent Rodriguez collaborator/Alita co-star Jeff Fahey is anyone to go by, that sequel just might be going into production, and much sooner than we thought. Of course, we need to take these remarks made in a ScreenRant interview with a large grain of salt, but that sounds like what's happening at the moment.
As Fahey was on hand to promote his new film, Due Justice, the genre legend had some kind words to say about his continued work with his Machete director. Which to this hopeful spark from Jeff himself:
It's like working with Robert Rodriguez. I think we've worked together now seven times. And we'll be working together again, hopefully in the summer. Fingers crossed that we're going into Alita: Battle Angel 2.
Now there’s a little bit of unpacking we need to do in order to understand what this could mean for Alita 2. Reading Jeff Fahey’s quote above, it almost sounds like he’s suggesting that the project he’s “hopefully” working on next summer is this hotly-anticipated sequel. Then again, he could be expressing two separate thoughts, and saying that not only is he hoping to be working with Robert Rodriguez next summer, but he's also crossing his fingers that this new sequel will also be on the way eventually.
A near future production start doesn’t sound all that far off, especially when Fahey’s character, the dog loving Hunter-Warrior McTeague, managed to survive that gigantic Kansas bar fight in 2019’s Alita: Battle Angel. On the more reality-bound side of things, it was only earlier this year that one of Jon Landau’s Alita: Battle Angel 2 updates indicated that both Rodriguez and star Rosa Salazar were still being talked to about a potential follow-up.
Even Robert Rodriguez had a hopeful outlook on the project, as he stated how despite the Avatar sequels occupying Landau and James Cameron, Alita 2 has been a subject of hot discussion in that circle as well. As Cameron’s original pitch involved a planned trilogy, which was then rewritten and reworked by Rodriguez, all that would seem to be missing is a greenlight.
Their potential future reteaming had Jeff Fahey reminiscing about how he and Planet Terror’s director first linked up. That discussion led to Fahey revealing just how he came to Robert’s attention, and why they’ve continued to connect over the years, as follows:
One of the many wonderful things about Robert Rodriguez, he's a big fan, as Tarantino is, of a lot of the cats that they grew up watching. ... It's the same with me and Robert. He was watching my films when he was a teenager. And that's how he hired me. I guess the moral of the story is, if you stick around long enough, and you make a few friends, you'll end up working forever. If you stick around long enough.
With almost an entire year of discussions and a bit of a delay in work due to the multiple strikes throughout this year, there may have been enough of a gap for all involved to chat. Considering Robert Rodriguez and James Cameron’s intense Alita pitch for the first movie, that would have been the right time to pull together a presentation to sell the project without casting or shaping the script.
If Jeff Fahey’s remarks have been correctly interpreted, we could be steps closer to Alita: Fallen Angel, or whatever this sequel may be called, soaring into the skies of production. Maybe this time we'll see more of McTeague in action, which could be a huge draw for Alita fans and those who continue to stick around for the next Rodriguez/Fahey adventure.
For now though, it sounds like we're still in the hopeful thinking phase of Alita: Battle Angel 2's path to production. At the same time, Jeff Fahey's optimism is hard not to get wrapped up in, as it's been almost five years since the original movie was released into the world.
As usual, we'll all have to hang tight and see what the future brings, as studios like Disney will be trying to fill gaps in their schedules left by those recent strike actions. Alas, if you want to fly with Alita: Battle Angel, the best option currently available is Robert Rodriguez’s hopeful franchise starter. That film is currently streaming for those with a Hulu subscription, so don’t stand by if you’re looking for some more Motorball in your life.
