Fans can’t get enough of Alita. Trends show that everyone’s favourite cyberpunk warrior is one of the most searched on Google making the inevitable sequel highly anticipated.
Alita: Battle Angel has been making all kinds of headlines, some good, some great, and some not-so. What that tells us is that she is definitely on a lot of people’s minds a lot of the time and Google Trend statistics seem to show that.
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Industry professionals understand the risks of making a Hollywood adaptation of foreign material and this is especially true for Manga/Anime. Fans are usually loyal to the source material and highly critical when the adaptation ignores it in large parts. Then there is also the issue of lack of interest in the U.S. mainstream market for these kind of films.
Ghost in the Shell tanked both critically and financially. In spite of having A-list actress Scarlet Johansson as the film’s lead, the movie only brought in USD$40,563,557 at the box office. The reviews were also overwhelmingly negative scoring an abysmal 43% on Rotten Tomatoes with David Sims of the Atlantic calling it, “a flimsy copy of a copy.”
Knowing the risks of adapting a beloved manga for an English audience James Cameron was still passionately committed to the project. Alita: Battle Angel went on to make USD$85,710,210 at the domestic box office and USD$317,261,058 internationally. Even though those figures may not seem big, that’s extremely impressive for a Hollywood adaptation of a 20 year old manga. And, thanks to word-of-mouth advertising, a lot of people discovered Alita: Battle Angel in time for its home media release placing at the top of the charts for almost a month straight.
It appears that Alita 2 is in high demand. Months later the film is still one of the most discussed and searched. Our Alita articles are among our most read. Alita is also consistently one of the most searched terms on our site. This got me to do a little research and, lo and behold, it is among the top searched movies of 2019 and fans are itching for a sequel.
Alita is more searched than one of Marvel’s most popular superheroes even after news broke that Tom Holland’s Spider-Man is returning to the MCU.
The above chart compares the search of three popular superheroes; Alita, Spider-Man and Batman. Inarguably Spider-Man and Batman are way more popular than Alita. Being well established world recognised characters with a wealth of content ranging from comic books, cartoons and even video games, you’d expect search statistics to heavily favour the latter two, but Alita holds her own when it comes to the biggest superheroes.
The word-of-mouth trend is clearly visible in the chart as there’s almost no searches until the previews that took place on the 31st of January. Searches then spike after the film’s cinematic release and she becomes even more searched than the most popular superhero of all time. Since then searches have remained constant and keeping up with the likes of Spider-Man. This is extremely impressive for a film like Alita: Battle Angel.
Is Alita 2 really happening?
Yes. James Cameron owns the film rights to the manga and he’s expressed his passion for the universe and has no intention of abandoning it. Director, Rodriguez has already received a 600 page draft for the sequel with 1000 pages of production notes. Additionally, the movie’s producer, Jon Landau, confirmed that Cameron’s production company, Lightstorm Entertainment, has already designed new cyborg motorball players for Alita 2.
Alita: Battle Angel is considered to be the best film adaptation of a manga to date. Even the Yukito Kishiro praised the film and said that he was ‘super honoured’. Considering the high demand and all the positive press and praise the film’s been receiving it is no wonder why the Alita is still trending in Google search and it gives Disney good incentive to greenlight the sequel. However, James Cameron is determined to make it happen with or without their help. That’s why we can confidently answer yes to, “is Alita 2 really happening?”
It is undeniable that Alita 2 is in high demand. People thoroughly enjoyed the first movie and can’t wait for the sequel. Are you excited for Alita 2? Let us know in the comments below.