‘Alita: Battle Angel’ may feature Oscar-winning actor Christoph Waltz in the male lead role alongside Rosa Salazar. James Cameron is serving as producer in the upcoming live-action adaptation of the science-fiction Japanese manga of the same name.
According to Nerdist, Waltz may be in negotiations to play a male lead in the live-action adaptation of Yukito Kishiro’s popular ‘Battle Angel Alita’ cyberpunk and science-fiction comics originally published in 1990.
The 59-year old Austrian-German actor is best known for his films with director Quentin Tarantino, most notably as SS-Standartenfuhrer Hans Landa in the 2009 war film ‘Inglorius Basterds’ and as Dr. King Schultz in 2012’s ‘Django Unchained’.
He also appeared in films such as 2011’s ‘Water for Elephants’, 2011’s ‘The Three Musketeers’, 2013’s ‘The Zero Theorem’, 2014’s ‘Big Eyes’, 2015’s ‘Spectre’, and 2016’s ‘The Legend of Tarzan’. He received critical acclaim for his performances and earned numerous accolades including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a BAFTA Award for his role in ‘Inglorius Basterds’.
Waltz is reportedly playing a character named Dr. Dyson Ido, according to IMDB. Dr. Dyson is a cyber-surgeon and cyber expert who becomes Alita’s mentor.
Robert Rodriguez of ‘Spy Kids’ and ‘Machete’ fame previously signed on to direct the film produced by James Cameron and Jon Landau. Cameron and Laeta Kalogridis prepared the screenplay for the new film.
According to io9’s Gizmodo, Rosa Salazar was hired to play the lead role Alita. Salazar is best known for her roles in science-fiction and action films such as ‘The Maze Runner’ cinematic series as well as ‘The Divergent Series: Insurgent’.
In the original Japanese manga, Salazar’s female cyborg Alita was first found in a local junkyard by Dr. Dyson. Although he manages to revive her, she has lost all memory. He then names her after his own cat.
Although Alita doesn’t remember much, she recalls practitioner under legendary martial artist Panzer Kunst and uses this to become a hunter-warrior that kills cyborg criminals in Scrapyard. She is also a motorball player and defeats the defending champion Jashugan. Alita takes on different cyborg bodies throughout the series.
‘Alita: Battle Angel’ is an upcoming science-fiction based on the Japanese comics of ‘Battle Angel Alita’ created by Yukito Kishiro. It is produced under Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Lightstorm Entertainment, and Troublemaker Studios.
