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Well, this just appeared in my facebook TL... I don't know any of these actresses, but I certainly don't see any of them as the Battle Angel we all love. Here's the article:

Producer James Cameron and director Robert Rodriguez have narrowed the search for their “Battle Angel” lead to three female stars: Disney Channel star Zendaya, “It Follows'” Maika Monroe and “Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials” star Rosa Salazar.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the three actresses screen tested for the lead role, but Zendaya is currently the frontrunner. A final decision will be made over the next few weeks. The report claims Cameron is looking to “create a star-making vehicle” much like his 2000 television series “Dark Angel.”

Retitled “Alita: Battle Angel,” the live-action project is based on the popular cyberpunk manga by Yukito Kishiro about a female cyborg discovered in a garbage heap by a scientist. With no memory of her previous life, except for her deadly martial-arts skills, she becomes a bounty hunter, tracking down criminals.

Cameron has attempted to get the adaptation off the ground for more than 15 years, saying in 2012 that he hoped to turn to the project once he completes the sequels to “Avatar.” Rodriguez joined the project as director last October.

Originally published from 1990 to 1995, “Battle Angel Alita” has inspired an original video animation and a video game.


Source:
http://spinoff.comicbookresources.com/2 ... a-salazar/

What do you guys think about this?

I'm kind of frustrated! I'd much rather see a Japanese actress play her.

Out of the three of them, I like Zendaya the best.

I had hoped for someone like Summer Glau or Ziyi Zhang. The role needs an ass-kicker who still has a certain grace.

middle one.

The girl in the central picture is more Gally-like, but she is not Gally enough.
Anyway, I'd prefer if they preserved her original name.

IMO none of the above look enough like Gally, neither do they look "genuine" or graceful enough either.

as an above poster said, Summer Glau would have been a perfect choice, or even the girl from kickass, & though i don't know anything about the above three, none of them look like they have had any kind of martial arts training or experience at all... something which i would expect to be a prerequisite for playing Gally.

since the movie's inception i have been skeptical anyway, what with cameron delaying & then dropping the project & handing it off to rodriguez. & now these horrible casting choices, i just don't know about this...

This is my first post although I've been lurking on these boards for a while. I'm a big fan of Battle Angel Alita/Gunnm. Not that I have anything wrong with these actresses playing the role of my favourite manga character but the way this is being sort of rushed, after James Cameron's building it up into some awesome pet project, worries me.

First he said the project would have to be pried out of his cold dead fingers, then he said it was not going to be a star vehicle "per se" (I forgot where I read that, but it was a few years ago) ... and now, suddenly, he's not only passing it to another director but also eschewing going with the actress I thought by logic he would cast, which is Olivia Munn (he had her participate in his climate documentary a few years ago, along with Jessica Alba and Arnie). I know, no official announcement about Olivia being cast as Gally was made, but now I hear she's suddenly signed to a big upcoming movie and so will be unavailable for the next year or so...

I don't know, it just feels like this is being really rushed and I wonder why. The cynic in me is hoping against hope that Mr Kishiro's health is alright because, considering how the mangaka also wrapped up LO so quickly (and hasn't really been keeping up his blog), it could spell something wrong.

However, I hope this is just my own imagination. I don't know, I was kinda hoping for more effort re the casting. None of these actresses really fit the part and my gut tells me that casting a relative unknown in an also unknown movie (because BA is not that famous, as say, Ghost in the Shell, UNfortunately) could produce a box office bomb. Sure, it worked for Jessica Alba but Dark Angel was a TV show and people could become emotionally invested by watching it week after week, rather the same way fans grew to like 50 Shades of Grey.

All that being said, I guess my choice would be Zendaya, as I've been hoping for an African-American female lead movie for years now. I just really hope, given the rushed and budget nature of RR's typical movies, that this doesn't end up being total crap. It will ruin BA for me.

Actually, I would choose a 14/15 yo actress to play Gally, simply because she looks like a teenager when Ido finds her. Also Yoko looks like a teenager (or a child) every time she is shown (and she will have to be shown a lot). Additionally, we should remember that a story that has already taken more than 30 volumes will not be limited to a single film, and considering that the character does NOT look older, no matter how the time/years go, the actress is supposed to be young.

Sergio Nova wrote:Actually, I would choose a 14/15 yo actress to play Gally, simply because she looks like a teenager when Ido finds her. Also Yoko looks like a teenager (or a child) every time she is shown (and she will have to be shown a lot). Additionally, we should remember that a story that has already taken more than 30 volumes will not be limited to a single film, and considering that the character does NOT look older, no matter how the time/years go, the actress is supposed to be young.

That's a good point! A teenage actress is the best fit for the beginning of the story (Makaku and Yugo).

At the same time, I don't think a 14/15 year old actress works starting from the Motorball arc on. It would be really hard to find an actress so young but talented enough to play Gally convincingly.

GrubEater wrote:This is my first post although I've been lurking on these boards for a while. I'm a big fan of Battle Angel Alita/Gunnm. Not that I have anything wrong with these actresses playing the role of my favourite manga character but the way this is being sort of rushed, after James Cameron's building it up into some awesome pet project, worries me.

I agree! I thought it was really abrupt when news came out about casting Alita.

I know, no official announcement about Olivia being cast as Gally was made, but now I hear she's suddenly signed to a big upcoming movie and so will be unavailable for the next year or so...

Wow, really? I wonder why the article didn't mention her then.

I don't know, it just feels like this is being really rushed and I wonder why. The cynic in me is hoping against hope that Mr Kishiro's health is alright because, considering how the mangaka also wrapped up LO so quickly (and hasn't really been keeping up his blog), it could spell something wrong.

I think his health is OK, but I can see why you'd be worried. In any case, I doubt the film is rushed on account of his health, because he's not really involved in the production of the film.

All that being said, I guess my choice would be Zendaya, as I've been hoping for an African-American female lead movie for years now. I just really hope, given the rushed and budget nature of RR's typical movies, that this doesn't end up being total crap. It will ruin BA for me.

I agree with you about Zendaya! I think she's the best choice out of the three actresses listed in the article. And it would be a great to see a black female lead!

I guess, I just don't like how they didn't seem to consider a Japanese, or at least Asian, actress. Although it's nice that it sounds like James Cameron considered Olivia Munn, who is half Asian.

I still think Satomi Ishihara and Kiko Mizuhara would be strong candidates. Haruka Abe and Jessica Lu for Western actresses of Japanese descent. And, as far as non-Japanese actresses go, I think Brenda Song could pull it off too. She's got the right look, and has martial arts experience.

Anyways, I hope the film is good. But another part of me will still enjoy it if it's really cheesy and crappy....

Regarding the age of the actress, I don't think casting a teenager is a good idea, if they intend on making sequels. The technology James Cameron has developed is age-neutral when it comes to skin tone BUT not when it comes to facial shape. A 14-year-old could look young in the first movie, but what happens when her bone structure grows down the line? They should rather cast a baby-faced 18+ actress who has the ability to play both innocent and soft, as well as angry and scary.

I think you're right about Kishiro; when he signed his property over to Cameron, he essentially lost control of it. I know he's probably okay with that decision (otherwise he wouldn't have done it), but I wonder what he thinks now that Mr James Cameron, the famous-as-fuck director will no longer be directing the movie and instead, it will have a director who is not on the same level as Cameron. (I mean, I know many people might like Rodriguez's movies, but they just don't have the same drawing power as Cameron's).

Oh damn, and now I've forgotten the other thing I wanted to say and will probably have to post again...

Just remembered: I'm assuming whoever they cast will get extensive training in all sorts of martial arts etc (that's why they're casting 8 months in advance - 2017 is supposed to be the start of filming). So I don't think martial arts ability is all that important, more of a 'desirable criterion' than essential.

I agree, though, us Scrapheads are gonna enjoy whatever comes out, to some extent because Alita is so near and dear to us...

Oh yea, I agree with you about martial arts ability. It would be nice to have, but it's not a requirement for the character.

Zendaya by a mile.

More then for the role of Gally, i would have casted Zendaya for the role of the random hooker that gets behaded by the mutant woman in the very fisrt Gunnm volume. She looks fitter
.

James Cameron's Alita: Battle Angel casts Rosa Salazar in lead role

Somewhere in the 26th century, a bell just rang. EW can confirm that Rosa Salazar has scored the lead role in Alita: Battle Angel, James Cameron and Robert Rodriguez’s big-screen adaptation of the manga series about an amnesiac cyborg bounty hunter plying her trade in a dystopian future.

The 30-year-old actress is no stranger to post-apocalyptic action movies, having previously appeared in Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials and The Divergent Series: Insurgent.

Cameron wrote the adaptation of Yukito Kishiro’s manga and originally intended to direct, but he ultimately stepped down to focus on his sprawling Avatar franchise. Robert Rodriguez will direct Alita instead, with Cameron remaining on board as a producer.

Twentieth Century Fox has yet to announce release date for the film.

Salazar’s other upcoming films include Maze Runner: The Death Cure and CHIPs. Collider first reported her casting.

Source

Wow...she has quite the Young Adult resume. Divergent..meh, but the ScorchTrials/Maze Runner stuff is awesome.

I bet we get Yugo in flashbacks or something? It could be paced like Sin City. We'll see how much we get. I pray we skip Makkaku.


The production, which has yet to select a start date, will have a budget in the $175 million-$200 million range.

This is good news.

I liked Rosa Salazar in Maze Runner, I'm pretty glad they picked her as Alita! I feel pretty hopeful about this movie. I hope it's a success!

Best of the 3.

Agree, the other 2 are too tall and look nothing like the character. Plus, Rosa's got an edginess to her that feels more real. If she works hard at this, it could be her breakout role.

I doubt we'll see the actress "in flesh" much. Usually if she's not moving in superhuman speed, she's in pieces.

Been a long time since I posted here (Hi Ripper!), but the primary delay was not choosing the actor (that's just stuff to keep interest going), but the design, and building the special 3-D cameras, writing the code, assembling proprietary computers, and making the projection system that did not exist either.
The type of cameras needed simply did not exist and had to be designed and assembled. The team was not happy with current technology and when they were finished, wondrous, fascinating, and Holy F,**king sh!t didn't even describe what was achieved. The quality of what is capable for the movie is fantastic. Unfortunately I cannot say much more (non disclosure agreements forbid) but you will still have to wear glasses for now. , What has been done and they are trying to finish is true 3-D where the image leaps out at you from the screen and not having to wear glasses! A special reflective screen has been developed with a specific optical quality. A truly immersive experience for the movie goer! Glad I'm retired and they can't touch my pension
This is what was/is desired, and money (lots and lots) has already been invested. From what I have seen so far we won't have long to wait. Multiple laser projectors needed special computers to sync them , various light frequencies and inferences work really well, but one problem is blinding people can still occur. The ones in use at the Universal Studios tour look lame compared to these. I just hope that and a few other bugs are solved soon. If you want to kinda get an idea of what I'm writing about, go to a major department store and look at the newest 3-D televisions on the market.
-=:Gil:=-

gilsand wrote:Been a long time since I posted here (Hi Ripper!)
-=:Gil:=-

Welcome back, I say.
I have never seen such TV sets, but if I understood your explanation, it is possible to have the same 3D effect at home, watching on Blue Ray. Is that so?

Yes! But even so you have to be pretty much directly in front to maintain the effect, off to the side-sucks

Do you know what James Cameron's level of involvement with this movie will be?

I still think Cameron won't be able to resist basically co-directing Alita: Battle Angel. He'll want to make sure it's as awesome as the movie he's had in his head for so many years.

Or at least that's what I hope.

As of now Rodriguez hasn't really explained why he wanted to make this movie other than that he'd learn how to implement all the bleeding edge tech that Jim uses.

I just hope RR loves it as much as Cameron loves it.