A few years after Alita: Battle Angel premiered on the big screen, it appears that development on the sequels to the 2019 blockbuster is actually moving forward. During a recent interview with Forbes, James Cameron confirmed that we will be taking some time in the near future to work on sequels to Alita, even as he finds himself currently busy with the Avatar sequels. The interview took place for Cameron to discuss selling one of his properties, and the filmmaker talking about the future of the franchise certainly came as a surprise. Here’s what James Cameron had to say about the Alita sequels:

And 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 (to live there) anymore.

Alita: Battle Angel was directed by Robert Rodriguez, and it followed the titular character, played by Rosa Salazar. As a revived cyborg suffering from amnesia, Alita needed to find her place in the world all over again, and that would prove to be easier said than done, given how she lived in a place where everyone had to fight for themselves. The special thing about Alita was the fact that she had a human brain, something rarely found in her post-apocalyptic reality. Exhausted by the violence exhibited in her community, she sings up as a Hunter-Warrior to get to the bottom of the conspiracy behind robotic parts being stolen all the time.

While Alita was strong enough to save the day, the same couldn’t be said about the film itself. While the box office numbers earned by the film were impressive for a February release, its elevated budget didn’t allow it to become a completely profitable endeavor for Fox. Added to that, the studio’s acquisition by Disney delayed any potential development on the sequels while the merger was taking place. But now, it looks like James Cameron is ready to head back to Alita’s world, as the long-awaited continuation may finally enter development in the near future.

James Cameron is Going Back to Pandora

Before he can fully immerse himself in the Alita universe, James Cameron is still busy with the story he’s telling in Pandora. This past December, Avatar: The Way of Water dominated the box office, as audiences couldn’t get enough of Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and his quest to protect his family from the evil new iteration of Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang). The filmmaker has confirmed that three more Avatar movies are on their way, and they have already been scheduled for release by Disney. With the final Avatar installment coming in 2031, it’s unclear when the Alita movies could be made.

via Collider