Take the dystopian setting of Neill Blomkamps Elysium, add a little of James Camerons The Terminator and a little of cult classic 1990 science fiction movie Hardware, and finally add a large dose of this years Ex-Machina and together you will have Battle Angel: Alita. Created by Yukito Kishiro Alita tells the story of a cyborg found dumped on the surface of 26th Century Earth, now a scrapyard, from one of the floating cities suspended high above the Eaths surface. Reassembled and cared for by a naive engineer Alita has no memories of her past except for the knowledge of "Panzer Kunst", a deadly martial art which she uses as a bounty hunter while trying discover her past.
Originally oscar winning Canadian director James Cameron had planned to adapt Alita for the big screen but with production scheduled on up to three more movies set within the Avatar universe, and the rights to the Terminator reverting back to Cameron soon the director simply won't have the time required to dedicate himself to the project. Therefore 20th Century Fox have announced that the producer and screenwriter of Predators, Robert Rodriguiez will bring James Cameron's script onto the big screen, with Cameron and Jon Landau attached as producers...
James 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.”
Robert Rodriguez: “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.”
Combining Cameron's technicality and character driven storytelling with Rodriguez's visceral visuals and unique directing style can only hold promise for what could be an R-rated, special effects laden action adventure epic with an amazing ensemble cast. Lets hope that now that Rodriguez is attached as director we will get a release date soon.
