Just thought i'd add some thoughts:
- Rodriguez directing may not be a big surprise. I've read somewhere that Kishiro is a big fan of Miller's work, but in particular of the live action version of Sin City. Can't remember where, but this may mean Kishiro had *some* say in who should direct (as Rodriguez directed that rather succesful adaptation).
- A good adaptation does not blindly and strictly follow the source material. A good comic is not automatically the perfect storyboard and script for a movie, a good book is not automatically the perfect script. What works on a static page may not always work in a live action, moving version.
- Given that this is Cameron, he has the clout to make the movie as long as he likes. Avatar was over 2,5 hours long and i strongly suspect that Alita won't be a 90 minute condensed popularized version like for example GitS turned out to be.
Cameron wants to make a trilogy of Alita movies, so it makes sense to get as much of the original story in there as he can. What doesn't make sense is tunnel vision which some fans may have, thinking that *every single bit* of the source material is important and should be in the movie. As some have said, thats simply way too much! We may not even see Hugo for another 5 movies otherwise...
Given that this may be a 2,5-3 hour movie, it has the room to include the first 4 volumes. Remember that they are, in essence, the first big character arc for Alita, as they are *all* about discovering herself. They follow a fairly straight trajectory. She firstly comes to terms with her existence and learns about relationships. She discovers her emotions, falling in love and finding out how it can work with her situation. She then focuses solely on discovering her past until she reaches the point where she can move forward again after defeating Jashugan.
I'm kind of expecting Makaku to be left out entirely. His storyline is not critical to the plot and may be too macabre for the general audience. This may sound strange to fans, but if you look at it from an outsiders perspective i think you'll see my point. It makes the story too complicated and dense for the movie. Whatever you think of a movie, remember that it will be about *Alita* first and foremost, and not any of the other characters. Sure, Ido and Hugo will have big roles, but they are not the focus.
The story will most likely go a little like this for the first half with some very rough time estimations:
Opening:
Ido discovers Alita, her brain in stasis. He takes her back to rebuild her. Limbs are added part by part. Just as in the manga, Alita then discovers Ido's dark secret (establishing hunter warriors and alluding to his past as a Tipharean), as well as her latent combat skills (and maybe the berserker body). It's likely that motorball is also introduced around this point to set up the later developments. (20 minutes).
She then decides to become a hunter-warrior, and meets Hugo at around the same time, doing odd jobs around the place (establishing their romance). Here Hugo's dream of reaching Tiphares is also established. (20 minutes)
Middle:
She may be hunting a big game, and comes to conflict about it with Zapan, establishing other hunter warriors aside from her and Ido, as well as her future conflict. The big game itself is not relevant persé, as it only serves to have Zapan enter the story so he can then set up Hugo's big hunt. (20 minutes )
After the mid-movie action sequence involving a fight with Zapan and Hugo's death (which may not happen on the cables, only his connection to Tiphares is important, maybe Zapan even kills Hugo for the bounty himself), Alita goes into melt-down and joins Motorball to discover more about her combat abilities. (20 minutes)
End:
Volumes 3 and 4 are actually rather easy to condense into about 60 minutes of live action movie, because most of the manga is actually just action scenes. Motivations which are spoken aloud or thought there only need to be shown in possible mere seconds to achieve the same effect in a movie. Alita learns more about her combat potential and some memories of Mars, with Jashugan possibly taking on a more direct role as her mentor here rather than a semi-antagonist. Ido's subplot of 'winning her back' may not make it as it makes the story more complicated than it needs to be (remember, focus is on Alita and his subplot does not add anything to the overarching plot about her development).
Anyway, this is about what i think it will be like, given the information we have now. I'm sure that things will change, for better or for worse, but what people *have to* remember is that a 1 to 1 translation will never happen unless Kishiro commissions a full length anime series (the only way it could happen). EDIT: According to IMDB, Kayna and Chiren are in the movie, and i strongly suspect Haley might play Nova unless they found a place for Makaku after all. This does throw the above into question.
For a live action movie, the story and action need to follow the same thread throughout the movie. You cannot sidetrack the audience all the time and worldbuilding needs to be done *during* the main plot and through the visuals, not via stories which have no further impact on the plot as a whole.
The one thing i'm struggling with is Koyomi and how she fits in here, especially as she's supposed to be an adult already. I can only imagine that her role in the movie is actually to give Alita a "friend" as it were (a role no one else, even in the manga, fullfilled actually), in order to set up her 'betrayal' later on with barjack and Den.
As i am writing this here, remember that Cameron and his buddies now have had almost 20 years to refine the script, and he is supposed to be a fan... The first teaser/trailer should at least give an indication of what it's going to be, so lets be patient and hope for the best
