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Live-Action Alita: Battle Angel Film's 1st Trailer Streamed

posted on by Karen Ressler
Film opens July 20, 2018

20th Century Fox began streaming the first trailer for Alita: Battle Angel, James Cameron and Robert Rodriguez's live-action film of Yukito Kishiro's Battle Angel Alita (GUNNM) manga, on Friday.

The film's Twitter account streamed an 11-second teaser on Thursday.

The film will star Rosa Salazar (Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials, The Divergent Series: Insurgent, Man Seeking Woman) in motion capture as Alita. Other reported cast members include:

  • Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds, Django Unchained, Spectre, The Legend of Tarzan) as Doctor Dyson Ido, "the cybersurgeon who finds the cyborg [protagonist] and becomes her mentor."
  • Jackie Earle Haley (Watchmen, A Nightmare on Elm Street remake, Preacher, The Dark Tower, The Birth of a Nation) as "a monstrous cyborg in a villain role that will call for plenty of CG and greenscreen."
  • Ed Skrein (The Transporter Refueled, Deadpool) as Zapan, "a villainous cyborg who is in possession of a weapon called the Damascus blade."
  • Keean Johnson (Nashville, Spooksville) as Hugo, the "love interest" and "a young man who teaches Alita how to play a gladiator-style game called Motorball but who also has a secret side job stealing robot parts."
  • Eiza Gonzales (From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series)
  • Jorge Lendeborg Jr. (Spider-Man: Homecoming,The Land) as the "cunning and sly friend" of Keean Johnson's character.
  • Lana Condor (X-Men: Apocalypse) as Koyomi, an orphaned teenage photographer in the manga.
  • Leonard Wu (Marco Polo) as Kinuba, a cyborg character in the manga.
  • Marko Zaror (Machete Kills) as Ajakutty, a Motorball player who also appears in the original manga.
  • Jennifer Connelly (American Pastoral, Hulk, Dark Water) as one of the film's villains.
  • Michelle Rodriguez (Fast and the Furious) as Gelda.
  • Mahershala Ali (Moonlight, Hidden Figures) as two unspecified roles

The Hollywood Reporter described the film:

Set in the 26th century, Alita: Battle Angel tells of a female cyborg that is discovered in a trash yard by a scientist. With no memory of her previous life except her deadly martial arts training, the woman becomes a bounty hunter, tracking down criminals.

The action-adventure story is meant to serve as a backdrop to themes of self-discovery and the search for love.

Robert Rodriguez (El Mariachi, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Sin City, Spy Kids) is directing the film. James Cameron and his Lightstorm Entertainment partner Jon Landau are producing the project, and Shutter Island's Laeta Kalogridis penned a script.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Rodriguez said that the film is a self-contained story but "it tunes up a world and a character that could go on and on." Cameron originally planned for a film trilogy.

Fox has scheduled the film for a wide release on July 20, 2018. The film will get an IMAX release.

Source: Entertainment Weekly (James Hibberd)


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