The Hollywood Reporter brings word that the cast of the long-awaited Alita: Battle Angel has grown by one more with the addition of Jackie Earle Haley. The Reporter doesn’t know what character he will be playing but specifies it will be a “monstrous cyborg in a villain role” which will require CG and green screen animation to complete. He joins an Alita: Battle Angel cast that includes Rosa Salazar in the title role and Christoph Waltz as her father figure, Doctor Dyson.
Set in the 26th century, Alita: Battle Angel tells the story of Alita, an amnesiac female cyborg who is rescued from a scrapyard by Dyson. 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 aims to explore a young woman’s journey of self-discovery and finding love.
James Cameron had been developing the big screen adaptation for more than a decade, but now that he’s is in pre-production on four Avatar sequels, he has his hands a little full and has turned the Alita reins over to Sin City director Robert Rodriguez. Production is set to begin on the film in Austin this October.
“Robert and I have been looking for a film to do together for years,” Cameron said when the film was officially announced last year. “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.”
