Alita: Battle Angel continues to inch ever closer to becoming an actual movie. James Cameron toyed with the idea of live-action take on the Yukito Kishiro’s classic manga Battle Angel Alita since at least the year 2000, but the project only started to move once Cameron handed the directing reigns to the super-productive Robert Rodriguez. Recently the movie locked down its lead actress, Divergent and Maze Runner actress Rosa Salazar, and now the production is looking to nab itself an Oscar winner.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Christoph Waltz is in negotiations to join Alita: Battle Angel, and, shockingly, he won’t be playing the villain. Waltz is up for the role of Dr. Dyson Ido, a character based on Dr. Daisuke Ido from the comics. Ido is an exiled scientist and bounty hunter who finds a partially destroyed android in a vast scrapyard. He repairs the robot, names her Alita, and becomes her mentor, father figure and designated worrier once she leaves the nest to kick some post-apocalyptic ass.
Can’t argue the casting at all. Dr. Ido isn’t a villain, but he doesn’t have a slightly creepy edge and a skeleton or two in the closet, so Waltz should be perfect for the role.
Alita: Battle Angel hits theaters July 20, 2018.
(Via The Hollywood Reporter)
