James Cameron (‘Avatar‘,’Titanic’) has long wanted to create a live action version of ‘Battle Angel Alita‘ and will now be producing the film with Robert Rodriguez (‘From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series,’ ‘Sin City: A Dame to Kill For’) directing it! Oddly enough this manga is being renamed to ‘Alita: Battle Angel’ but the unnecessary name change aside this is exciting news. Unlike most manga to anime to live action conversions with Cameron on board, this will have the funding and vision to hopefully do the original content the justice it deserves.
While this has always been one of Cameron’s dream projects, it seems that with ‘Avatar’ consuming his directing time for the foreseeable future he has hand picked Rodriguez to take the film forward. 20th Century Fox is currently in final negotiations with the director who will be bringing Yukito Kishiro’s classic series to life.
The story takes place in the 26th century and revolves around a cyborg named Alita. She was saved from destruction and rebuilt by a cybernetics doctor though his saving grace has long reaching consequences on multiple lives and societies.
While Alita has no memory of her past she does know the Panzer Kurst which is a form of martial arts that no cyborg has been able to perfect and makes her unbeatable. Throughout the series her goal is to reunite with her past and find out who she truly is.
According to Cameron:
“Robert and I have been looking for a film to do together for years, so I was pumped when he said he wanted to do ‘Battle Angel.’ He’s very collaborative and we’re already like two kids building a go-kart, just having fun riffing creatively and technically. This project is near and dear to me, and there’s nobody I trust more than Robert, with his technical virtuosity and rebel style, to take over the directing reins. We’re looking forward to learning a lot from each other while we make a kick-ass epic.”
Rodriguez chimed in with:
“‘Battle Angel’ is an incredibly rich and vibrant epic in the tradition of Jim Cameron’s spectacular, character-driven films. Getting to work from Jim’s terrific and visionary script while learning the cutting edge techniques he’s pioneered is a master class in filmmaking. It’s an honor to explore the world of Alita along with Jim and Jon, whose films have impacted me for decades.”
As Cameron is still on board as the producer and the film will be based off of his script, I can’t help but be excited. The gritty style which Rodriguez uses could be perfect to show off this world and even though I’d prefer to see what Cameron had done if he was fully in charge. I don’t think I’ll have any complaints about the final outcome here. This is one of the few mangas that I’ve truly wanted to see on the big screen.
What are your thoughts on ‘Alita: Battle Angel’ finally moving forward? Are you happy to hear that Rodriguez will be in the director’s chair? Share your thoughts below!
Sources: Slash Film, Deadline
