Progress continues with regards to the live-action adaptation of the GUNNM manga with Alita: Battle Angel as Variety has revealed another new cast member. Eiza Gonzalez is in negotioations to join the project though her role is unstated. She’s worked with director Rodriguez previously on the From Dusk Til Dawn: The SEries that’s currently in its third season and she’s set to start in Baby Drive that’s coming up in theaters.
The studio brought in Rosa Salazar for the title character and then this spring announced a July 20th, 2018 release date. That’s a busy month already, though that weekend had no real competition for this target audience. July 6th has Ant-Man and the Wasp, July 13th has a new Illumination animated film, and July 27th has the Aquaman film. So this fits in quite nicely for a potentially big and fun action surprise for moviegoers.
The cast now includes Rosa Salazar as Alita, Christoph Waltz as Doctor Dyson Ido, Jackie Earle Haley, Ed Skrein as Zapan, Keenan Johnson as Hugo, Mahershala Ali as Vector and Eiza Gonzalez. The film will be directed by Robert Rodriguez with James Cameron producing and collaborating on it.
This is still likely to keep the two anime OVAs out of distributors hands for quite some time to come unfortunately.
Plot concept: 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.
