Sometimes even the most powerful filmmakers in Hollywood take the long
way to getting their visions onscreen. From the involvement of a legendary filmmaker to
the future of the franchise, here's the untold truth of "Alita: Battle Angel."
Though "Alita: Battle Angel" premiered in theaters in February 2019, James Cameron had
been developing the project for quite a while. In fact, Cameron was pursuing Alita all the way
at the dawn of the 21st century. Back in June 2000, news sprung up that 20th Century Fox had
registered a website domain related to Alita for Cameron. At the time, Fox had no comment on what
specific plans they had for this webpage. Coming less than three years after Cameron's "Titanic"
had dominated the planet, though, grabbing that site couldn't help but draw eyeballs. It seemed
to be news that positioned "Alita" as the next directorial effort from the King of the World.
As history has proven, though, all that speculation around 2000 never led to
much. Though he went back and forth on which project to do as his next directorial effort,
Cameron eventually shifted his sights onto "Avatar." His connection to "Alita" would
be further distanced once the director's chair was filled by Robert Rodriguez. Still,
Cameron remained an integral creative partner on the project. The fact that he was pursuing
this endeavor all the way back in 2000 speaks to his enduring passion for the world of "Alita."
As the 21st century began, Cameron — always one to push the envelope for visual effects — was looking
to make movies starring entirely digital characters. Both "Alita" and "Avatar" were
being eyeballed by the auteur as ways of realizing those ambitions, with the former
initially being the one Cameron planned to make into a groundbreaking reality first.
All the way back in 2004, Cameron was teasing the movie, which he dubbed "Battle
Angel," as a project featuring a main character done entirely in CG animation,
which would be shot with a new 3D imaging system he'd developed for documentaries. Cameron's visual
effects ambitions for the project were clear from the get-go, while his explicit mention
of "Battle Angel" being in pre-production made it obvious he planned to get to the film next.
However, plans eventually changed. Cameron debated whether he'd direct "Avatar" or "Battle Angel"
next, but camera tests eventually led him to pursue the former instead. In the process,
"Alita" went from being a top priority to getting shifted to Cameron's backburner.
It can take a while for a movie's visual effects work to come together just right.
That's why a number of blockbusters begin working on their most VFX-heavy sequences
before principal photography even begins. In the case of "Alita: Battle Angel," it
shouldn't be shocking to discover that the cutting-edge technology used to bring those
robotic characters to life was being worked on long before cameras started rolling. However,
what is surprising is just how long this VFX technology was being fine-tuned. "Alita: Battle
Angel"s VFX were being worked on for more than a decade before it ever hit the silver screen.
According to a May 2006 profile from Variety, James Cameron had spent about 10 months at that
point working on the visual effects technology necessary to bring the movie to life. Cameron,
even at these earliest stages, planned to render Alita the character as an entirely
digital creation, so he wanted to make sure the technology used for this protagonist was just
right. Of course, Cameron's early prep work didn't pan out, as he focused his attention
on Jake Sully and his adventures on Pandora. Still, having Alita's VFX date all the way
back to 2005 reflects Cameron's determination to render this anime character right in live-action.
Robert Rodriguez doesn't frequently play in the sandbox of big-budget movies.
He's certainly made VFX-heavy features, but budgets on the scale of a James
Cameron mega-blockbuster aren't exactly Rodriguez's wheelhouse. Though he embraced
this style of filmmaking when he took on "Alita: Battle Angel," Rodriguez's
original participation in the production was meant to be quite a bit more limited.
Initially, Rodriguez was simply called in to help revise the film's screenplay,
but he grew more invested when he saw the design work at play. As he explained to The Irish Times:
"I saw James Cameron's original drawings, and they took my breath away. [...] And he trusted
me with the version that was in his head, and he said, 'If you fix the script for me,
you can direct.' So a month later I come back and say,
'Here you go, free of charge.' And he said, 'All right, it's yours.''
After that, Rodriguez went from being a screenwriter on "Alita:
Battle Angel" to being its sole director.
"I said if you can crack the code on this, and you wanna do it, let's do it."
Alita actress Rosa Salazar became one of the most acclaimed parts of "Alita: Battle Angel,"
with critics praising how she was able to convey a richly human performance through
all that motion-capture animation technology. However, despite how widely beloved Salazar's
Alita has become, she wasn't always the only person in contention for the role.
Originally, the title role of "Alita: Battle Angel" came down to a number of actresses,
including future Spider-Man mainstay Zendaya. The Hollywood Reporter noted in April 2016
that Zendaya, Salazar, and "It Follows" lead Maika Monroe were all the finalists for the role
of Alita. Bella Thorne was also mentioned as a name in consideration for the part.
Interestingly, at the time, THR said that Zendaya was the frontrunner for the role
but cautioned that the performer's commitments to her Disney Channel program
"K.C. Undercover'' could provide insurmountable scheduling conflicts.
It turned out those conflicts were impossible to resolve, and Zendaya failed to secure the role
of Alita, while other contenders like Monroe and Thorne also fell by the wayside. Instead,
Salazar took on the part, forever altering her career in the process.
"I do not stand by in the presence of evil."
Robert Rodriguez needed to make a number of changes to his filmmaking style when
tackling "Alita: Battle Angel." The man famous for handling all behind-the-scenes
elements of his independent productions had to hand over the reins of cinematography,
music, and editing to other people. Meanwhile, the sheer scope of the entire endeavor meant he
had to pull back on some of his most outlandish tendencies. One thing that didn't change, though,
was that "Alita" was shot in Rodriguez's go-to filming location of Austin, Texas.
The home of Rodriguez's Troublemaker Studios, "Alita" shot on soundstages in the city,
with apparently the entire feature being filmed there. This makes it a rare big-budget production
to shoot in Texas. Many blockbusters opt to shoot elsewhere thanks to tax incentives.
However, those concerns weren't going to shoo away Rodriguez. In fact, he's got a sense of loyalty
fueling his ambitions to shoot his films in this famous Texas city. As he told The Irish Times:
"Richard Linklater and I both live there, and I have to say,
by staying in your community and making your movies there,
and using local workers, it creates a ripple effect that is ultimately huge."
With that kind of potential positive impact, it's no wonder that "Alita:
Battle Angel" and its backdrop of Iron City found a home in the Lone Star State.
"Alita: Battle Angel" did okay, but not necessarily fantastic, at the worldwide
box office. Thanks to a lack of new American blockbusters in the first two months of 2019,
it managed to do significantly better domestically than many other live-action anime adaptations,
but it still grossed just over $85 million domestically. Thanks to overseas grosses,
including a strong gross in China, "Alita" brought its worldwide box office haul to $401.9 million.
That isn't spectacular on a budget that's been speculated to range from $170 million
to a whopping $200 million range. However, it's a decent gross on a number of levels,
particularly when you compare its domestic haul to its international one.
While it might not have done James Cameron blockbuster numbers,
"Alita" was also notable because it became Robert Rodriguez's biggest movie ever at the
worldwide box office. The film easily leaped past Rodriguez's previous biggest movie ever,
the first "Spy Kids" film, with almost double the box office total. Of course, this isn't exactly a
shocking development given that Rodriguez hadn't previously dabbled in the kinds of movies that
make over $400 million worldwide. When many of your features are low-budget grindhouse homages
like "Machete," of course a broadly-appealing tentpole like "Alita" will become your
highest-grossing directorial effort. However, it's still a noteworthy achievement for "Alita: Battle
Angel," especially considering that its box office run as a whole didn't quite meet expectations.
Throughout "Alita: Battle Angel," a handful of big-name actors
show up for brief appearances. Jai Courtney pops up as legendary Motorball player Jashugan,
and Edward Norton appears as the film's ultimate villain, Nova. In the moment, they're just further
evidence of the larger world that Alita occupies. In the broader context, though,
these characters and their respective performers were all supposed to pay off in potential
follow-ups to "Alita: Battle Angel." As Rodriguez explained in an interview with Coming Soon:
"We had to cast [these] people without really having a part for them to be basing it on to
see if they wanted to do it. There was no script for a future one. So we went to people we knew."
According to Rodriguez, these "Alita" cameos were the last casting they did on the film,
in part because the roles were so small there wasn't a lot of preparation necessary. Delaying
the casting also meant Rodriguez and company could really feel out who was right for the roles,
just in case they didn't get the chance to come back for sequels.While the future of "Alita:
Battle Angel" as an ongoing cinematic universe is uncertain, if any sequels do emerge,
the first movie has ensured that a handful of big actors are ready to fill out critical characters.
Nobody involved with "Alita: Battle Angel" could've ever predicted the film would occupy
a notable place in film history. However, that's just what happened when the film was released
in the middle of February 2019. It may have been just a spot on the calendar at one point,
but at the time this meant the film was the last title released by 20th
Century Fox before the studio was absorbed into Disney in March 2019.
That's right, nearly 85 years of 20th Century Fox existing as a non-Disney
entity came to a close with "Alita." Though there could never be a perfect closing film
for a studio that encompassed so many eras of history, concluding on "Alita" meant
that Fox went out with a feature hailing from one of its biggest go-to filmmakers,
James Cameron. After all, the man behind Fox's two biggest movies at the worldwide box office,
"Avatar" and "Titanic," was also the producer and screenwriter behind the studio's final
pre-Disney release. It also meant that Fox went out with a big-budget tentpole
rather than a smaller-scale title that could've slipped through the pop culture cracks.
Initially, "Alita: Battle Angel" was meant to spawn further adventures, and director Robert
Rodriguez noted that his experience writing the film meant that he had a clear perspective
on how the character could continue in future installments. As he explained to Yahoo! Movies:
"Whether you have a franchise or not, you have a character that's so rich that the
audience can imagine more movies with, those are the kinds of characters that I like."
Unfortunately, the film's worldwide box office was nowhere near big enough to
immediately trigger a greenlight for such projects. Despite those issues, though,
Rodriguez hasn't given up on seeing further Alita adventures.
As recently as January 2021, the director said
that a follow-up could emerge thanks to the power of streaming services. As he told Forbes:
"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."
No further updates have emerged, so it's unclear if this is just wishful
thinking on the part of Rodriguez. But with the avenue of streaming services,
Alita fans may still have a whisper of hope of seeing further adventures in Iron City.
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