I remember when James Cameron made the announcement at San Diego Comic Con that he'd be making a live-action movie based on the popular manga BATTLE ANGEL ALITA.
That was in 2002.
Needless to say, the deliberate and often-submerged filmmaker has instead been slowly focusing his energy on the upcoming AVATAR, but that may not necessarily mean he's put BATTLE ANGEL aside. In fact, the 3D-centric site MarketSaw hears that he's had a separate creative team working on it since 2004, and that their workspace was essentially "converted" to appear like the world of the manga.
The report also claims that Cameron already secretly cast his lead actress, although she is currently a "nobody". (This would support the rumored casting call that went around for the project a year or two ago, and would be in line with Cameron's penchant for discovering fresh talent. I've heard the role may be entirely "performance captured" anyway.) Additionally, Cameron supposedly jettisoned the script by Laeta Kalogridis (ALEXANDER) and is piecing it together with a co-writer.
The technology he has been inventing and perfecting for AVATAR will be utilized for the film, which will potentially be one of the most complicated ever made (one sequence would make THE FIFTH ELEMENT's city traffic seem like a drive in the Nevada desert). You can check out more details RIGHT HERE.
The subject matter should fit right into Cameron's filmography: The epic story revolves around a female cyborg discovered in a junk pile with no memory of her past. Her journey to uncover her secret history leads her into grand-scale battles while broaching larger questions about the line between man and machine.
(Thanks to 'FTWD' for the artwork.)
Extra Tidbit:
In the book, Alita is apparently named after the recently deceased cat of her new owner/father. It's unknown if Cameron plans to use the name Alita. Or any cats.
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2:53PM on 03/11/2008