News Reporting

Alita: Battle Angel Movie Pushed Back to December 2018


Rosa Salazar stars as Alita in Twentieth Century Fox’s ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL.

Earlier today, entertainment news source Variety reported that Fox delayed the release date for Alita: Battle Angel. The film was pushed back to December 21, from a previously-planned July 20 launch.

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.

The confirmed cast includes:

  • Alita: Rosa Salazar
  • Lead Male (Unnamed): Keean Johnson
  • Doctor Dyson Ito: Christoph Waltz
  • Zapan: Ed Skrein
  • Vector: Mahershala Ali
  • Unnamed Female: Eiza González
  • Unnamed Male: Jorge Lendeborg Jr.
  • Koyomi: Lana Condor
  • Ajakutty: Marko Zaror
  • Gelda: Michelle Rodriguez

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.

Film news site 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.

Source: Variety

About the author

Samantha Ferreira

Samantha Ferreira is Anime Herald’s founder and editor-in-chief. A Rhode Island native, Samantha has been an anime fan since 1992, and an active member of the anime press since 2002, when she began working as a reviewer for Anime Dream. She launched Anime Herald in 2010, and continues to oversee its operations to this day. Outside of journalism, Samantha actively studies the history of the North American anime fandom and industry, with a particular focus on the 2000s anime boom and bust. She’s a huge fan of all things Sakura Wars, and maintains series fansite Combat Revue Review when she has free time available. When not in the Anime Herald Discord, Samantha can typically be found on Bluesky.

Anime Herald

Support Anime Herald

Anime Herald is brought to you through our Patrons and Ko-fi supporters. Consider backing us for as little as $1 a month to help us keep the site ad-free and pay a fair rate to our writers.

Patrons and backers can access several benefits, including Early Article Access, our members-only Discord, and the ability to suggest articles for our team to write on your behalf.



Latest Posts