James Cameron Says Multiple ‘Alita’ Films Are In Development

With the massive success of James Cameron’s latest film Avatar: The Way of Water the ambitious director seems to be planning his return to another series he was involved with. Previously he had been the producer on the 2019 adaptation of the Japanese manga series Alita: Battle Angel, which was highly praised at the time.

The film was originally distributed by 20th Century Fox, which was acquired by Disney that same year. The Fox acquisition also lead to them gaining the rights to the Avatar franchise. Avatar‘s 2022 sequel went on to become the fourth highest-grossing film of all time, giving Cameron some possible leeway to return to finish the Alita story.



However, it appears that we may be getting more than just a second installment. In a recent interview with Forbes, the director discussed selling his $33 Million ranch in California. When explaining why he mentioned some of his upcoming projects, which involved Avatar 3 and Avatar 4, along with multiple Alita films, he said:

“On Avatar, I’m working in Wellington and Los Angeles. And on the new Alita: Battle Angel films, I’ll be working in Austin, so it just didn’t make sense for us anymore.“



While this could have been a slip of the tongue, and he meant to say “film” instead of “films” the idea of a third installment being discussed/worked on is definitely exciting. While it is true that the first part of the original Battle Angel Alita manga could be wrapped up in the second film, there were additional manga, including Battle Angel Alita: The Last Order and Battle Angel Alita: Mars Chronicles. A third or even fourth film could draw from these.



With Cameron busy with the third Avatar film (which was recently postponed from 2024 to 2025), director Robert Rodriguez will most likely return to direct with the cast reuniting for another adventure in this cyberpunk action-adventure series.

What do you want to see in the Alita sequel(s)? 

Source: IGN