It looks like Dr. Ido may turn out to be a truly inglourious basterd!
Yesterday, The Hollywood Reporter revealed that Christoph Waltz is in early talks for a role in James Cameron’s Battle Angel Alita (GUNM) film. Waltz is currently negotiating for a role as Doctor Dyson Ido, who finds Alita and ultimately becomes her mentor.
Christoph Waltz has been active as an actor since 1977. The Austrian actor studied his craft at the Max Reinhardt Seminar before moving to New York City. There, he studied method acting with Lee Strasberg and Stella Adler.
Waltz began his career on stage, performing in venues like Zurich’s Schauspielhaus Zürich, Vienna’s Burgtheater, and the Salzburg Festival. In the 1980s, he became a prominent TV actor, performing in German programs like The Old Fox (1986), Das andere Leben (1987), Goldeneye (1989), and Faust (1997). Waltz made his directorial debut in 2000, with German TV series Wenn man sich traut.
Walts made his biggest splash in 2009, where he played Standartenführer Hans Landa in Inglourious Basterds. He’s performed in several other prominent films since then, including Water for Elephants (2011), Django Unchained (2012), and Spectre (2015).
In May, we reported that we reported that Rosa Salazar (Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials) will play the lead role of Alita in the film.
Battle Angel Alita will hit theaters on July 20, 2018. Collider describes Battle Angel Alita as:
Based on the manga series by Yukito Kishiro, Battle Angel takes place in the 26th century and tells the story of an amnesiac female cyborg who is rescued from a scrapyard by a doctor, rebuilt with no memory of her previous life excepting her kickass martial arts skills, and becomes a bounty hunter tracking down vicious criminals. Salazar has a pretty impressive resume for an up-and-coming actress, especially for only having been on the scene for the last five years, and after a notable turns in Insurgent, The Scorch Trials, and the wonderful FX comedy Man Seeking Woman she’s become a name to watch. Now, she’s landed what could be her breakout role.
Robert Rodriguez (Desperado, Sin City) was hand-picked by Cameron to direct the project, which features both James Cameron and his Lightstorm Entertainment partner Jon Landau as producers. According to Collider, Rodriguez is working from Cameron’s original script, though he’s likely to “punch it up with his own style.” Cameron commented on the collaboration:
Robert and I have been looking for a film to do together for years, so I was pumped when he said he wanted to do Battle Angel,” stated Cameron. “He’s very collaborative and we’re already like two kids building a go-kart, just having fun riffing creatively and technically. This project is near and dear to me, and there’s nobody I trust more than Robert, with his technical virtuosity and rebel style, to take over the directing reins. We’re looking forward to learning a lot from each other while we make a kick-ass epic.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter (Thanks to L.B. Bryant for the tip!)
