WATCH: James Cameron offers unique take on Japanese manga movie adaptations with ‘Alita: Battle Angel’
Movie adaptations based on Japanese manga or anime have often received mixed responses from the audience. However, with renowned director James Cameron at the helm, the perceived stigma may get a chance to be lifted.
The first trailer for Cameron’s “Alita: Battle Angel” showcases the veteran director’s vision for a dystopian world where a female cyborg with amnesia attempts to learn more about herself.
Based on the source material, Alita, played by Rosa Salazar in Cameron’s movie, had been turned into a cyborg back when face designs were more doll-like. This explains her big anime-like eyes, which also earn various reactions from characters she encounters throughout the story.
Cameron has been previously reported to be a fan of the source material, a Japanese manga by Yukito Kishiro called “Battle Angel Alita”. Similar to “Avatar”, the director said he had been waiting for computer-generated imaging technology to develop far enough, for it to deliver his vision. An interview from Collider in 2011 said Cameron will adapt the first four volumes of the manga series.
“It’s such a rich world. What I’m going to do is take the spine story and use elements from the first four books,” Cameron told Collider. “So, the Motorball from books three and four, and parts of the story of one and two will all be in the movie.”
The Japanese manga began serialization in December 1990 on Shueisha Inc.’s Business Jump magazine. It ran until April 1995 and currently has nine volumes. Four separate spin-off volumes were later published. A video game had also been released in 1998 titled “Gunnm: Martian Memory” for Sony PlayStation.
“Battle Angel Alita” also received a two-episode original video animation (OVA) adaptation based on the first two volumes of the manga series.
The cast will include Academy Award winners Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly and Mahershala Ali.
Watch out for “Alita: Battle Angel” in July 2018. JB
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