So, can we call this story “The Legend of Gelda: Breath of the Cast”? Too corny?
On Wednesday, entertainment news source Entertainment Weekly reported that Michelle Rodriguez will join the cast of Alita: Battle Angel. Rodriguez will play Gelda, a cyborg warrior who appeared in the original manga.
Rodriguez has been active in the industry since 2000. She made her début in the film Girlfight, which saw her playing Diana Guzman. The role earned numerous accolades, from the National Board of Review, Deauville Film Festival, Independent Spirit Awards, Gotham Awards, and Las Vegas Film Critics Sierra Awards, among others.
Since then, she’s gone on to perform in numerous prominent roles, including Leticia “Letty” Ortiz in The Fast and the Furious (2001), Rain Ocampo in Resident Evil (2002), and Luz in Machete (2010). In the animated realm, Rodriguez lent her voice to Liz Riccaro in IGPX.
Previously, we reported that ten actors either signed on, or are in talks to perform in the film:
- Alita: Rosa Salazar (Confirmed)
- Lead Male (Unnamed): Keean Johnson (Confirmed)
- Doctor Dyson Ito: Christoph Waltz (In Talks)
- Zapan: Ed Skrein (Confirmed)
- Vector: Mahershala Ali (In Talks)
- Unnamed Female: Eiza González (Confirmed)
- Unnamed Male: Jorge Lendeborg Jr. (Confirmed)
- Koyomi: Lana Condor (Confirmed)
- Ajakutty: Marko Zaror (Confirmed)
In addition, Jackie Earl Haley will play “a monstrous cyborg in a villain role that will call for plenty of CG and greenscreen.” Jennifer Connelly will also play an unnamed villain character.
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.
Filming is kicked off in October in Austin, Texas. Fox scheduled the feature for a wide release (including IMAX) on July 20, 2018.
Source: Entertainment Weekly
