Critically panned sci-fi film becomes Netflix hit five years after release

The film starred Rosa Salazar, Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly and Mahershala Ali

A critically panned sci-fi from 2019, that was written by James Cameron, has become an unlikely hit five years later after being added to Netflix.

Alita: Battle Angel, was originally supposed to be directed by Cameron himself but eventually left the task to Robert Rodriguez. The Terminator and Avatar director produced and co-scripted the film instead.

The cyberpunk-action movie, starring Rosa Salazar, Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly and Mahershala Ali, was wrapped up in controversy when it was first released after right-wing fans positioned it as an alternative to Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel, which was released around the same time.

The blockbuster focuses on the titular character, a cyborg, who after being revived by a doctor, realises that she has the soul of a teenage girl and sets out on a mission to discover the secrets of her past.

Alita was a success at the time, thanks largely to its international fanbase, grossing $405m (£323m) worldwide against a $170m (£135m) budget. Critics weren’t as kind to the movie and it currently holds just a 61 per cent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

The movie was added to Netflix on 8 November and has persistently remained in the Global top 10 movie rankings ever since and at the time of writing has the number four slot. CBR reports that the film had 6.2 million views in that time and 12.7 million hours viewed.

‘Alita: Battle Angel' (20th Century Fox/Moviestore/Shutterstock)

Fans of the film, which is based on a manga series by Yukito Kishiro, have been clambering for a sequel ever since the first film was released but are yet to receive any official confirmation.

In July 2023, during an interview with Forbes, Cameron hinted that he was working on another Alita film.

In the piece, which centred on the news that Cameron had sold his coastal ranch in California for $33m (£25.6m), the filmmaker alludes to ongoing work on an Alita sequel, as well as the forthcoming Avatar sequels.

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“On Avatar, I’m working in Wellington and Los Angeles,” he said. “And on the new Alita: Battle Angel films, I’ll be working in Austin, so it just didn’t make sense for us anymore.”

James Cameron (Getty Images)

Avatar: The Way of Water, the first sequel to Cameron’s 2009 smash Avatar, was released in cinemas in 2022, becoming one of the highest-grossing movies ever made. Three further sequels are currently in development.

The as-yet-untitled Avatar 3 was originally set to come out in December 2024 but has been moved to December 2025. As a result, the fourth and fifth entries were pushed back until December 2029 and December 2031 respectively.