Twentieth Century Fox and James Cameron have announced that the long in-development Battle Angel movie is still happening, except now director Robert Rodriguez (From Dusk Till Dawn, Sin City) will helm the feature, titled Alita: Battle Angel. Cameron and Jon Landau will produce for Fox under their Lightstorm Entertainment banner.
“Robert and I have been looking for a film to do together for years,” Cameron said. “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.”
“Battle Angel is an incredibly rich and vibrant epic in the tradition of Jim Cameron’s spectacular, character-driven films,” Rodriguez added. “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.”
Set in the 26th century, Alita: Battle Angel tells the story of Alita, an amnesiac female cyborg who is rescued from a scrapyard by a doctor. The rebuilt Alita, remembering only her training in a deadly martial art, becomes a hunter-warrior, tracking down and eliminating vicious criminals. Within the context of an epic action-adventure, the film will explore a young woman’s journey of self-discovery and finding love.
Cameron has been developing the big screen adaptation of the manga series for over 10 years, but now that the director is in pre-production on three Avatar sequels (set for release from 2017 to 2019) he has his hands a little full.
Rodriguez’s credits also include such films as El Mariachi, Desperado, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, and the Spy Kids films.
