Robert Rodriguez Reveals How The Book Of Boba Fett Could Lead To Alita 2
Filmmaker and producer Robert Rodriguez has built a reputation as not only being a gifted storyteller, but also an authentic one who understands what fans want. His abilities extend across genres, whether you are talking about his gift for telling fun and intelligent kids films like "Spy Kids" or gutsy horror tales like "From Dusk Till Dawn."
While his gift for everything grindhouse is legendary, something else Rodriguez has a knack for is working within established worlds. One of his most recent gigs is the forthcoming Disney+ "Star Wars" series, "The Book of Boba Fett." After the success of "The Mandalorian," people are understandably excited to see how Rodriguez will take Boba Fett (played by Temuera Morrison) and Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen) and add to their stories in a way that is both exciting and authentic to the "Star Wars" canon.
Another story that Rodriguez has gotten an unexpected amount of proverbial flowers for is his 2019 film "Alita: Battle Angel." The movie, an adaptation of the long-running manga series "Gunnm," centers on a mysterious robot girl with a powerful body and a far-too-trusting heart. Even though it's only been a couple of years since its initial release, "Alita: Battle Angel" already has a cult fan following — one which is hopeful that the film's open ending will eventually yield a sequel despite the film's middling box office performance.
It turns out that there is a connection between "The Book of Boba Fett" and the potential future for "Alita: Battle Angel."
If Boba Fett rises to the top, Alita could fly again, too
Another feather in Robert Rodriguez's cap is that he acts as co-director on the Disney+ special "Happier Than Ever: A Love Letter to Los Angeles," which stars Billie Eilish. While out promoting that project, Rodriguez was asked about "The Book of Boba Fett" since it is also part of the Disney+ canon. It turns out, Rodriguez sees the potential success with "The Book of Boba Fett" as a chance to finally get an "Alita: Battle Angel" sequel off the ground.
"I'm hoping I'm earning some point[s] by doing so much for Disney, cause they own [20th Century Fox] now, and that's why we weren't able to jump right into the [Alita] sequel, because of that whole thing," Rodriguez explained in an interview with The Nerdy Basement. "But now they are starting to release some of the Fox stuff." Essentially, since Disney owns "Alita" as a film property, there's a chance it could be resurrected.
"I'm trying to see what happens with Boba Fett, I think that's going to knock people's socks off so when that happens I will go in and say, 'OK, I've been here for a while, let's figure out how we can do Alita whether it's for streaming or theatrical because it's such a great property, people love it, I love it and Jim [Cameron, who produced the film] loves it.'"
In fact, Rodriguez and James Cameron are still actively speaking about a potential Alita sequel. "We just talked about it recently again, about how can we do this, what's the best way to approach it," says Rodriguez.
"The Book of Boba Fett" is currently slated for a December release on Disney+.