The fate of “Alita: Battle Angel 2” is still up in the air as its predecessor performed poorly in sales, both domestically and internationally. The production cost of the first film is around $170 million, not to mention tens of millions more in marketing endeavors.
As such, Variety reports that the film needs to gross $500 million in order to financially justify the creation of “Alita: Battle Angel 2.” Unfortunately, the movie is struggling to reach $400 million in sales and it’s expected that it will not be making any more money in the coming weeks. At least, not enough to reach the abovementioned figure.
However, James Cameron did say that plans for “Alita: Battle Angel 2” has already been mapped out. He also said that he has steeled himself for the possibility of the film’s failure. “If the film fails, it's its own punishment, you know? It doesn't matter if we get mocked on top of having failed,” the decorated filmmaker told DigitalSpy.
While Cameron’s statement might hint that “Alita: Battle Angel 2” will be proceeding as planned, the final say will ultimately come from Disney. The Mouse House is currently in the process of acquiring Fox and all the films under its umbrella including the big-eyed heroine.
Thus, it would be difficult for Cameron to convince the company to greenlight “Alita: Battle Angel 2” given that Disney has so many titles it can choose to fund. The Marvel franchise alone is enough to bury the possibility of a sequel.
It also doesn’t help the fact that the movie only got mediocre ratings from both fans and critics alike. Among the major criticisms that the film received are its poor narrative and one-dimensional characters. Indeed, even the inclusion of Christoph Waltz as Dr. Ido wasn’t enough to carry the other hollow characters that have been portrayed. In conclusion, the future of “Alita: Battle Angel 2” is dire at the moment and there’s no indication that this will change in the months.
