Robert Rodriguez will direct Alita: Battle Angel

Battle Angel Alita has found a director and has had a slight name change. James Cameron has been working on bringing the manga by by Yukito Kishiro to the big screen for a long time. He was going to direct, but will now produce Alita: Battle Angel.

Robert Rodriguez (Sin City, From Dusk Till Dawn) will be sitting in the directors chair.

Set in the 26th century, ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL tells the story of Alita, an amnesiac female cyborg who is rescued from a scrapyard by a doctor. The rebuilt Alita, remembering only her training in a deadly martial art, becomes a hunter-warrior, tracking down and eliminating vicious criminals. Within the context of an epic action-adventure, the film will explore a young woman’s journey of self-discovery and finding love.

James Cameron said “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. 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.”

Robert Rodriguez added “Battle Angel is an incredibly rich and vibrant epic in the tradition of Jim Cameron’s spectacular, character-driven films. Getting to work from Jim’s terrific and visionary script while learning the cutting edge techniques he’s pioneered is a master class in filmmaking. It’s an honor to explore the world of Alita along with Jim and Jon, whose films have impacted me for decades.”

Via Deadline