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NEWS: Cameron: Battle Angel Has Script, 1 Year of Design Work


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walw6pK4Alo



Joined: 12 Mar 2008
Posts: 9322
PostPosted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 2:40 pm Reply with quote
Cameron is really the only person I trust in Hollywood to make a decent anime-based flick, and not make it insulting to the audience's intelligence. Everyone else would probably just want some cheap POS cash-in because it was a cheap license and cheap production, but he's been planning this one for quite a while, and we know his love of strong female leads and treating them with the respect that they command.

Here's to hoping Avatar brings him enough revenue to make it done.
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The Xenos



Joined: 29 Mar 2004
Posts: 1519
Location: Boston
PostPosted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 2:58 pm Reply with quote
Honestly one of the main reasons I've been following Avatar is in hopes of Alita being a follow up series. While it's neat to see Hollywood doing Avatar, I've already seen similar concepts and designs in comics and animation dozens of times. The plot should seem ho-hum to sci fi vets. Yet I'm all for seeing it if it means more from Cameron and the work he's concurrently done on Alita. Hell, I'd even be happy if Cameron produced it and let someone else direct. I want this Alita movie to finally get on track and off the back burner.
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Chrno2



Joined: 28 May 2004
Posts: 6171
Location: USA
PostPosted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 3:10 pm Reply with quote
I really wish he would consider doing the film already. I remain forever hopeful.
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Emerje



Joined: 10 Aug 2002
Posts: 7328
Location: Maine
PostPosted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 3:15 pm Reply with quote
The fact that he's been this thorough just while considering the project shows a lot of promise. Seems like an ideal follow-up to Avatar, he'll be able to test all of the same limits of his new filming technology and it (hopefully) wont take him 15 years to get out the door (it's already taken 4).

Of course he did say at one point he wants to do two Avatar sequels, but hopefully he get Battle Angel in there somewhere.

Emerje
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Big Hed



Joined: 04 May 2006
Posts: 1607
Location: Melbourne, Australia
PostPosted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 4:16 pm Reply with quote
Oh? Is it the time of the year again for another Battle Angel headline already? Razz But if he's planning on doing two Avatar sequels, I won't be expecting anything for a while.
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Yuki_Kun45
Exempt from Grammar Rules


Joined: 26 May 2008
Posts: 725
Location: U.S.A.
PostPosted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 5:03 pm Reply with quote
Good grief when will someone rescue this title from Development hell already?
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Dargonxtc



Joined: 13 Apr 2006
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Location: Nc5xd7+ スターダストの海洋
PostPosted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 5:14 pm Reply with quote
I think this all hinges on whether or not Avatar turns a profit. I think it will do well, but it has to cover about a half billion dollar cost, which is substantial by any measure. I am going to go see the film as soon as I can. Personally, I am kinda pumped.


Yuki_Kun45 wrote:
Good grief when will someone rescue this title from Development hell already?


I would rather it stay in Cameron's hands then some hack.
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Jaymie



Joined: 18 Jun 2009
Posts: 915
PostPosted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 9:01 pm Reply with quote
Rescue it? James Cameron is the best possible choice for director of this movie. He has flipping 3D camera technology, and can construct actual realistic-looking humans and settings from scratch.

If you're not going to see Avatar, at least check out the trailer. Almost everything in it was made from absolutely nothing. Half the characters are made 100% out of CG.

Battle Angel Alita would be amazing with Cameron as the director. The world in that series is the type of world that would flourish if done well, and look really bad if done the wrong way.
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Spoofer



Joined: 03 Aug 2003
Posts: 356
Location: NY
PostPosted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 10:08 pm Reply with quote
Dunno why I wrote this, it doesn't really belong in this particular topic, but it inspired me to think about who I would and wouldn't want ruining/glorifying my anime.

Directors I'd implicitly trust with an anime interpretation, assuming they pick an anime that plays to their strengths:

James Cameron (sci-fi, obviously)
Ridley Scott (sci-fi, Blade Runner / Alien)

When a good percentage of anime is based on their previous works, they'd have to work hard to go wrong.

Quentin Tarantino (for brainless style over substance stuff)
Chris Nolan (I don't understand people who knock him or his movies, Dark Knight was ridiculously well-directed, and have these people not seen Memento? He could do well with a semi-realistic anime.)
Alex Proyas (back in his Crow/Dark City days. I, Robot sucked)
Peter Jackson (for something like Lodoss, lol, or other epics that need an extra hour of sappyness and 37 endings tacked on)
Guillermo del Toro (I didn't think Pan's Labyrinth was anything special, but the style was there that would work with a lot of creepy Japanese stuff)
George Lucas, 30 years ago (he wonderfully Americanized the spirit of Kurosawa's movies, though I'm not sure he could ever faithfully port over an anime to the big screen without Lucasizing it into oblivion.)

Maybe some others I can't think of atm.

Then there are those who I'd weep at the thought of them having anything to do with a favorite anime of mine, director or not:

Keanu Reeves (Bebop is doomed with Neo / Ted "Theodore" Logan in the lead, seriously)
Steven Spielberg (look, the guy makes art 50% of the time. The other 50%, he makes mainstream faux-intelligent popcorn drivel. Anything sci-fi related or adventury typically falls into the latter, aside from the original Indy trilogy. There's no way he has what it takes to outshine Park Chan-wook's Oldboy interpretation. Especially because of...)
... Will Smith. (Just no. He's incredibly charismatic and we all love him for it, but he plays the role of "Will Smith" in everything he's in. Every sci-fi movie he's been in has been incredibly dumb, and especially dumbed down from original source materials, like I Am Legend. I've even seen Seven Pounds, Happyness, Bagger Vance... you don't have what it takes to play believably serious roles, especially a role that Choi Min-sik nailed, Will. Please stay away from anime/manga.)
George Lucas today (for reasons above and because of the prequel trilogy, lol)
Most mainstream Hollywood directors.

The Departed sucked too, btw, not that it was anime related. I bet even Scorsese feels dirty about winning the Oscar for that nearly shot-for-shot rip.


Last edited by Spoofer on Tue Dec 15, 2009 10:18 pm; edited 3 times in total
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ZODDGUTS



Joined: 27 Oct 2003
Posts: 600
PostPosted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 10:13 pm Reply with quote
In he's recent interviews he's said that he doesn't want to make another 4 year film right now after finishing Avatar which took many years to make. Seems like he's next film will that under water voyage documentary because it won't take as long to film, after that it's likely he'll do BAA.
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jdnation



Joined: 15 May 2007
Posts: 1994
PostPosted: Wed Dec 16, 2009 2:30 am Reply with quote
I feel he will get to it sometime later. He's tired from the long voyage that was making Avatar and wants to take a break with producing some smaller films.

Also Cameron is on record saying that Battle Angel will not cost as much as Avatar. The tech for Avatar is already available. And a lot of Alita will not require as much CGI as Avatar (But of course still require a lot in relation to other films).

Also it's rumoured that Cameron is aiming to portray Alita herself as a 100% photoreal cg character of a 14 year old girl modelled to look close to her manga character design and driven by performance capture of an experienced older actresses using the tech from Avatar. A CG character will be the only way to recreate the crazy fight sequences and moves from the manga.
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ikillchicken



Joined: 12 Feb 2007
Posts: 7272
Location: Vancouver
PostPosted: Wed Dec 16, 2009 2:46 am Reply with quote
Spoofer wrote:
The Departed sucked too, btw, not that it was anime related. I bet even Scorsese feels dirty about winning the Oscar for that nearly shot-for-shot rip.


Well, the Oscar committee should feel dirty for not giving him one years ago so I guess they're even. Of course rip off or not, The Departed was fantastic. Maybe not Taxi Driver good but still pretty great.
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Mohawk52



Joined: 16 Oct 2003
Posts: 8202
Location: England, UK
PostPosted: Wed Dec 16, 2009 11:42 am Reply with quote
There is the old OVA he could use as a reference as well. I though he said he wasn't going to do another sci-fi for a while after Avatar was completed?
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Spoofer



Joined: 03 Aug 2003
Posts: 356
Location: NY
PostPosted: Wed Dec 16, 2009 12:27 pm Reply with quote
Infernal Affairs/Departed Spoilers

spoiler[I really think that everything in The Departed was done 200% better in the original film. From direction, to plot points, music, everything. I'd say "acting" as well, but then I'd have people jump on me because I don't actually speak Cantonese, even though I could relate to their tone, expressions, emotions, etc. better with the HK cast. I thought Leo did a great job with his character, and Mark Wahlberg was great in an original role (I believe), but other than that no one else held a candle to the HK cast, IMO, especially Damon (whom I usually like).

The whole morse code thing was really suspenseful in the original, and the translation to something about cell phones just didn't seem nearly as cool in The Departed, nor was the tension of the scene itself. Putting the two male leads in a relationship with the same shrink also seemed overly cliche to me as well. I'm sure there's more, but it's been a number of years since I've seen either movie. I mainly just remember watching Departed right after re-watching IA and noticing that even the cinematography and camera shots were near-identical in so many of the scenes.

The Departed should have been titled Inferior Affairs, IMO. Anime hyper]
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bravetailor



Joined: 30 May 2009
Posts: 817
PostPosted: Wed Dec 16, 2009 2:11 pm Reply with quote
Scorsese deserved the Oscar for Goodfellas above all else. It's probably his best film.

That said, I really don't have a very high opinion of Oscars in general. To me they're the definition of the "safe" award. Oscars don't reward rulebreakers, as a rule.

So if you don't win an Oscar, in my book that's a compliment to your work.
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