A new report reveals that, in 2005, an Activision game designer pitched an Alita: Battle Angel tie-in video game soon after James Cameron first bought the rights to the franchise.
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According to Kotaku, designer Casey Holtz and artist Anthony Hon pitched an Alita video game to Activision management in 2005, but the pitch was ultimately turned down. According to Holtz, there may have been some concern from management about the franchise’s level of awareness in the West.
“I think there were some concerns that the property was lesser known in the U.S. and Europe,” Holtz told Kotaku. “Anime and manga were not as huge as they are now, so back then it was a bit of a tougher sell, even with the amazing film track record of James Cameron.”
The one-page pitch from Holtz for the game — which was tentatively for the PlayStation 3 and the “Xbox 2” — includes ideas for Alita’s body being immensely modifiable as well as acrobatic combat thanks to something referred to as “Sure Foot System” that would allow players to traverse and fight over a variety of precarious environments and angles.
Ultimately, it would appear that no major tie-in video game was ever developed, though there is a mobile MMORPG that’s been released. You can read more about the 2005 Alita game pitch over at Kotaku.
ComicBook.com’s Brandon Davis recently reviewed Alita: Battle Angel, and here’s an excerpt of his thoughts: “All things considered, the movie is an immersive escape to another world. Attempts at emotion and human connections are supplemented by amazing visual and practical effects, along with well-crafted action sequences. It’s not going to be the next Avatar despite being an equally massive idea, but Alita builds its own world for a second adventure which could get audiences more invested.” You can read our full review of Alita: Battle Angel here.
Battle Angel Alita (known as GUNNM in Japan) was originally created by Yukito Kishiro for Shueisha’s Weekly Business Jump in 1990. The series is set in a post-apocalyptic future and follows Alita, a cyborg who is found in a garbage heap by a doctor and rebuilt. Completely devoid of her memory, all she has to cling to is a legendary cyborg martial art known as Panzer Kunst. With this knowledge, Alita decides to become a bounty hunter. The series has since been licensed for an English language release by Viz Media, and collected into nine volumes.
