In 2019, fans rejoiced when the Alita: Battle Angel film finally brought the beloved manga
to the big screen after languishing in development hell for years and years. Unfortunately, the
movie underperformed at the U.S. box office, and as a result, the nascent franchise's future
has been up in the air.
Alita: Battle Angel is by no means a bad film.
"It's not bad or good. That part's up to you."
Though professional critics gave it rather mixed reviews, audiences have rated it extremely
well, and there's some pretty major talent involved. The movie was directed by Sin City
and From Dusk Till Dawn helmsman Robert Rodriguez — and was almost directed by James Cameron
himself. The cast was about as stellar as any movie could hope to have. Rosa Salazar
anchored the movie as the uncannily wide-eyed titular cyborg warrior, and her surrogate
father and mentor Dr. Ido was played by two-time Academy Award winner Cristoph Waltz. Jennifer
Connelly and Mahershala Ali brought a couple more Oscars into the mix as Chiren and the
antagonistic Vector, and many of the other roles were played by reliable genre actors
like Ed Skrein and Jackie Earle Haley.
Still, at the end of the day, Alita: Battle Angel failed to live up to its financial expectations,
and usually, that would be the end of the IP's big-budget Hollywood travels — at least,
unless something dramatic happens.
Well, it looks like something dramatic just happened. Everyone's favorite big-eyed cyborg
lady might still have some surprises up her sleeve, because it looks like Alita: Battle
Angel is heading back to theaters.
"Thank you for saving me."
As September 2020 started turning into October, a group of Alita: Battle Angel devotees calling
themselves the Alita Army were preparing for a mission. In a message spreading on Twitter,
members of the fan faction were urged to start an Alita-themed Twitter campaign with the
intention to get Cinemark to re-release the movie in its cinemas. One fan posted a set
of directions to coordinate the campaign, along with the message:
"#AlitaArmy, please share this flyer far and wide. We need all hands. The trending-event
will go down on: Oct 1st, 7AM PST/11AM UTC" The "Re-release Alita" hashtag went live as
planned, and to say it was a success is an understatement. After mere hours, Cinemark's
Twitter acknowledged the campaign, and gave the fans some extremely welcome news, announcing:
"Hey #AlitaArmy, we hear you LOUD and CLEAR! Stay tuned...more info coming soon. #ReReleaseAlita."
In a reply to an Alita fan's thank you message, they also wrote that they, quote, "love the
dedication" the campaign had shown.
While Cinemark has yet to give specifics, it certainly looks like the sci-fi epic is
set to make a comeback in select theaters.
Vocal movie fans groups have been in the news lately thanks to Justice League's much-mythologized
Snyder Cut, which is coming to HBO Max in 2021 after years of fan campaigning. Alita:
Battle Angel may have only come out in 2019, but it's also been gearing up for a second
life for quite a while — though in this case, everyone seems to think the original
movie is awesome, and is focusing their campaigning on clamoring for a sequel. In late 2019, fans
collected over 120,000 signatures in their petition for a sequel, and the movie's producer
Jon Landau advised them to keep at it. The Alita Army has done just that, and they've
advocated heavily for the movie and its possible sequel.
The people behind Alita: Battle Angel certainly believed in its longevity, as they included
a number of neat cameos as sequel bait. A briefly seen character called Gelda from Alita's
past is played by none other than Michelle Rodriguez. Jai Courtney pops up in a blink-and-you-miss-it
moment as a prominent future antagonist, the mighty motorball champ Jashugan.
"That character's important in later stories."
Oh, and there's the matter of Hollywood legend Edward Norton, who appears in the film's cliffhanger
as the evil genius mastermind, Nova.
It's possible that the filmmakers and the fans have been right to hold out hope, because
some think Alita: Battle Angel 2 might already be in the works. In July 2020, Courtney's
Instagram account posted a photo of him decked out in a motion capture rig, and the caption
read:
"Trying out my new rollerblades."
Could it be a reference to his impending return as Jashugan?
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