It’s always surprising to hear news about Alita: Battle Angel. Long simmering on producer James Cameron’s back burner, many thought it was a lost cause. But casting news has been arriving thick and fast, and it looks like Jackie Earle Haley, fresh off his brilliant turn on Preacher, is the next to join the team.
The movie follows a female cyborg found in a junkyard by a scientist. She has absolutely no memory, but she does have extensive martial arts skills, so naturally she becomes a bounty hunter, fighting cyborgs before joining a sort of cyborg equivalent of Rollerball. Haley, according to The Hollywood Reporter, is likely playing one of her bounties, as he’s described as an evil cyborg and that his character will require extensive green screen and CGI. Odds are pretty good Haley’s playing a version of the mad scientist Desty Nova from the original anime, although really there’s plenty of leeway for Rodriguez and Cameron to insert new characters.
The main question, of course, is when we’ll see this. It’s currently set for a 2018 release date, but from the sound of things, production is going to be long and elaborate, and Cameron isn’t exactly a “hurry up and shoot” kind of guy, even as a producer. But we’ll find out as more news rolls in.
(via The Hollywood Reporter)
