Robert Rodriguez and James Cameron’s Alita: Battle Angel is continuing to gain steam as the cast begins coming together.
In May, The Maze Hunter‘s Rosa Salazar was cast as the lead in Alita: Battle Angel. Last week, Jackie Earle Haley joined the cast in a villain role. Christoph Waltz has also joined the film’s cast.
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Deadpool alum Ed Skrein has now also joined Alita: Battle Angel. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Skrein will play a villainous cyborg named Zapan who comes to possess a powerful weapon called the Damascus blade.
Alita: Battle Angel is an adaptation of the popular, nine-volume cyberpunk manga Battle Angel Alita, created Yukito Kishiro in 1990. The series is set in the 26th century and follows a broken down cyborg, Alita, who is put back together by a cybernetics doctor. The doctor takes care of Alita, but the only memory she has of her past life is of cyborg martial arts. She uses the skill to become a bounty hunter while trying to rediscover her past.
Alita: Battle Angel is being directed by Rodriguez. The film is being produced by Cameron and Jon Landau of Cameron’s own Lightstorm Entertainment.
Skrein played the sadistic Ajax in Deadpool. He also played Daario Naharis in Game of Thrones for a handful of episodes before leaving to take the lead role in The Transporter Refueled. He is currently shooting the thriller In Darkness.
Alita: Battle Angel is being distributed by 20th Century Fox. Fox is aiming to start production on Alita: Battle Angel in October 2016. Alita: Battle Angel has a scheduled release date of July 20, 2018.
