It turns out that James Cameron and Jon landau have been trying to get an “Alita” sequel going for a while, but Bob Iger has made it clear that the only way this will happen is if Cameron directs it himself and not original director Robert Rodriguez.
Cameron has been reluctant to do this since he's planning his “Last Train from Hiroshima” adaptation which is set to shoot in-between the 3rd and 4th ‘Avatar’ films, but I’m being told he is considering taking up Iger’s offer.
Don’t take it, James. We want that ‘Hiroshima’ movie. No more 3-D fantasy world extravaganzas, take a break from that.
Cameron has been sucked up by the 3D virtual reality that is Pandora and, by all accounts, he doesn’t mind staying there for the rest of his career. That’s why it’d be great if he took the more humanist ‘Hiroshima’ in between his ‘Avatar’ movies.
Cameron will be 70 years old by the time the third ‘Avatar’ movie gets released. He’s not getting any younger, it would be great to see him tackle this material.
Back in 2010, Cameron had optioned Charles Pellegrino's nonfiction book "The Last Train From Hiroshima: The Survivors Look Back." Cameron put up his own money to get the option.
‘Last Train’ takes place "over two days and weaves together eyewitness accounts of the Japanese civilians and American pilots who experienced the atomic explosions firsthand."
The Canadian director started working on the first “Avatar” movie around 1999/2000. From a filmmaking standpoint, it’s all he’s been concentrating on since then. That means that by 2027, Cameron would have almost exclusively worked on these damn ‘Avatar’ movies for nearly 30 years.
I’m not saying it’s a waste of time, he seems to be genuinely passionate about these movies and, more importantly, the sequel is making boatloads of money. However, from my point of view, as someone who was thrilled to no ends by Cameron’s visual miracles in “The Terminator,” “T2,” “Aliens,” and “Titanic,” I can’t help but hope he distances himself from Alita and makes ‘Hiroshima.’
Edward Berger seems to have settled on what comes next. His Lance Armstrong biopic, starring Austin Butler, is now holding casting calls, with production eyed for January.