It looks like Alita’s journey will be fraught with more than a few dangers.
Yesterday, The Hollywood Reporter, er… reported that Ed Skrein signed on for a role in James Cameron’s Alita: Battle Angel film. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Skrein will play Zapan, “a villainous cyborg who is in possession of a weapon called the Damascus blade.”
Ed Skrein has been active int he industry since 2004. The actor was born in Camden, London, England, and raised in several London boroughs. He made his show business début in 2004, with the release of a three-track album titled The Eat Up. Skrein made his début as an actor in 2008, in Plan B’s short film Michelle. Since then, he’s gone on to perform in several high-profile films, including Deadpool and The Transporter: Refueled.
Previously, we reported that Rosa Salazar (Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials) will play the lead role of Alita in the film. Austrian actor Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds) is currently in negotiations to play Doctor Dyson Ido, who finds Alita and ultimately becomes her mentor.
Last week, we reported that Jackie Earl Haley will play “a monstrous cyborg in a villain role that will call for plenty of CG and greenscreen.”
Alita: Battle Angel will hit theaters on July 20, 2018. Filming begins in October.
Collider describes the movie 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
