‘Alita’ director on emulating legend James Cameron
LOS ANGELES: Before James Cameron turned ‘Avatar’ into the highest-grossing movie in history, he was working on a new kind of cinematic heroine with the big-screen adaptation of manga series ‘BattleAngel Alita’. The legendary director behind ‘The
I totally bought into his version of it and I wanted to help him get it to the screen. I wanted, as a fan, to see that movie. Robert Rodriguez, director and friend of Cameron
Terminator’, ‘Aliens’ and ‘Titanic’ -- the second biggest hit of all time -- had a whole franchise planned for Yukito Kishiro’s graphic novels about a cyborg discovered on a garbage heap.
The runaway success of ‘Avatar’ -- US$2.8 billion in worldwide ticket receipts -- has led to a staggering four sequels being green-lit, however, so Cameron made the unprecedented decision to let go of his baby, entrusting his 600-page ‘Alita’ script to his friend Robert Rodriguez.
“I totally bought into his version of it and I wanted to help him get it to the screen. I wanted, as a fan, to see that movie,” Rodriguez, 49, told AFP at the recent CinemaCon industry convention in Las Vegas.
“So that was my approach to it, not to go and take it and turn it into something else, but help Jim finish what he had started out to make.”
‘Alita: Battle Angel’ -- the title was flipped, in keeping with all of Cameron’s films since the early 1980s beginning with a T or an A -- is set hundreds of years in the future.
The unconscious Alita is found in a scrapyard by Ido, a doctor who realizes that somewhere in her abandoned cyborg shell is the heart and soul of an extraordinary young woman.
Oscar winners
He tries to shield Alita from her mysterious past as the corrupt forces that run things come after her -- and she discovers she has unique fighting abilities.
Rosa Salazar, known for the ‘Divergent’ and ‘Maze Runner’ teen franchises, leads an all-star cast featuring Jennifer Connelly, Mahershala Ali and Christoph Waltz -- all Oscar winners.
Rodriguez, who befriended Cameron a quarter century ago, rose to fame with the release of his widely acclaimed 1992 lowbudget ‘El Mariachi’, about a Mexican musician who takes up arms against a gang of outlaws.
This led to a diverse career that has included the seminal vampire thriller ‘From Dusk Till Dawn’, the dark action film ‘Sin City’ and the childfriendly ‘Spy Kids’ franchise, as well as Mexican-set actioners ‘Machete’ and ‘Desperado’.
Rodriguez didn’t so much rewrite Cameron’s ‘Alita’ script as edit it down to a manageable length, suggesting some additional photography and dialogue, and moving the action to South America. — AFP