Alita: Battle Angel
4K Ultra HD | Blu-ray | DVD | Digital |
Director: Robert Rodriguez
Writer: James Cameron, Laeta Kalogridis
Cast: Rosa Salazar, Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly, Mahershala Ali, Ed Skrein, Jackie Earle Haley, and Keean Johnson
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Rated PG-13 | Minutes: 122
Release Date: July 24, 2019

Ever since James Cameron put all of his attention on the Avatar franchise, Alita: Battle Angel had been sitting on the back burner for as long as I could remember. Luckily, that all changed when he handed directing responsibilities over to Robert Rodriguez, who seemed to have the right sensibilities in order to bring the manga character to the big screen in a way that would honor the source material and their fans.

While the film was met with mixed reviews, most would say that the adaptation captured Alita and the futuristic world around her well. All those textures, the attention to detail, and the motion-capture work all speak to Cameron’s need to bring those characters and said world to audiences, and eliciting a wide-eyed and jaw-dropping reaction. Though the predictable narrative itself couldn’t support Alita: Battle Angel, the titular character’s journey of self-discovery is something worth watching. Check out my review of the film, plus some of the bonus feature that will be available, below.

20th Century Fox has released a new promo video for Alita: Battle Angel, the long-awaited adaptation of Yukito Kishiro‘s Japanese manga Battle Angel Alita.

In the video, dubbed “Two Visionaries, One Vision,” producer James Cameron (Aliens, Terminator, Avatar, Titanic)—who was attached to direct the adaptation for nearly 20 years before ultimately handing over the reins so he could concentrate on him multiple Avatar sequels—and director Robert Rodriguez (Sin City, From Dusk Till Dawn, Desperado, Grindhouse) talk about the movie. You can check it out below.

20th Century Fox has released the second trailer for Alita: Battle Angel. The first trailer for the movie was released late last year.

The movie, which stars Rosa Salazar, Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly, Mahershala Ali, Ed Skrein, Jackie Earle Haley, and Keean Johnson, has been in the works for a while now, with Aliens, Terminator 2, Titanic, and Avatar director James Cameron attached to the project for nearly two decades now. Cameron ultimately wasn’t able to direct the movie, with his multiple Avatar sequels on the way, so Sin City and From Dusk Till Dawn director Robert Rodriguez took over that role. Cameron did, however, pen the screenplay along with Laeta Kalogridis and Rodriguez.

Continue below to read a synopsis for Alita: Battle Angel and check out the new trailer.

James Cameron has made the two highest-grossing films of all time, Avatar and Titanic, so he is in a position with his career now where he can do pretty much anything he wants. For many years he has developed a film adaptation of Yukito Kishiro‘s manga series Battle Angel Alita for 20th Century Fox, but that endeavor has seen its share of production delays while its would-be powerhouse director paid several visits to the planet Pandora.

Even still, Cameron has long desired to make a movie based on Battle Angel. That is until he decided that he would no longer make anything but sequels to his billion dollar sci-fi blockbuster Avatar – three of which he intends to film back-to-back. That means the Battle Angel movie that has long been relegated to the backburner spot on Cameron’s development slate is going to be in need of a new maestro to bring it to the silver screen, and that maestro is Robert Rodriguez.

The Texas-based director of Desperado, From Dusk Till Dawn, and the Spy Kids and Sin City movies is currently in negotiations with Fox to take the helm of the feature that has been renamed Alita: Battle Angel. Cameron will remain on board to produce along with his longtime producing partner Jon Landau under their Lightstorm Entertainment company.

Yesterday, we learned that Terminator: The Sarah Chronicles creator Josh Friedman was tapped to write the sequel to James Cameron‘s long-gestating sequel to Avatar. This was the first real sign that production was moving forward for the film.

Now comes word that Cameron isn’t only bringing in Friedman, but multiple other screenwriters to work on not one, but three sequels. Avatar 2, Avatar 3, and Avatar 4 will be shot simultaneously starting next year, and Avatar 2 will hit theaters December 2016.