James Cameron’s Battle Angel Project Gets An Update

By Kevin Coll • September 15, 2009 • 5 Comments

My pal Jim over at Market Saw sent me a story they ran on Battle Angel, another project that James Cameron is working on that is supposed to have epic proportions. Cameron’s involvement on the project dates back to 2005 but not much has been made of it since he turned his attention to Avatar. Originally it was cited that Cameron would not do the film until the technology was right. Now with Avatar in post-production and the all the technology used to make that movie there is a chance Cameron will go ahead with the film with the same digital 3D system he developed for Avatar.

So What is happening with Battle Angel now? It seems they are currently running tests for the film. According to MarketSaw’s source:

“The tests are “Beautiful” and “Complex” beyond your wildest dreams. Stunningly beautiful, considering the fact that some are old(ish). Imagine this for a second. A cyborg chick “the Angel of Death” taking out “a lot” of other part man, part machine type “people”.

The tests that were ran contained the following looks:

“Now picture the “Angel of Death” looking like a child, a 14 year old. Now imagine this, this little girl goes through these guys like butter. Did you see the KICK-ASS trailer? Well imagine that girl via the Matrix via Ghost in the shell, via A.I. “Remember the True Lies bathroom brawl?” Well take out Arnold, and “copy and paste” Bruce Lee on acid via the Terminator. As seen through the eyes of a sweet innocent 14 year old cyborg girl. And all of this done via the mind of James Cameron, Holy shit what is not to love? The lights flicker and shit hits the fan. Awesome stuff.”

Now the skepticism by many on this description which really doesn’t give much away is that how could they cast a 14 year old to do all that? Or would they cast someone like a Summer Glau instead? Well Jim makes a good point that with performance capture and CG anything is possible. That includes using an underage actor in very VERY violent scenes. Well you don’t need an underage actor with the performance capture you could cast a Glau for the performance capture and make here look 14. Much like Zemeckis did for Jim Carrey in A Christmas Carol.

Perhaps the only thing that would hold this project back more would be the response of Avatar. If that response is overwhelming Cameron will most likely turn to sequel development it instead of making Battle Angel and that will come from studio pressure and audience pressure.

So What is Battle Angel? What is this Angel of Death? Well “Angel of Death” is what Alita, the main character (the 14 year old), is called in the story, another name she is known by. Below I have a premise of the film and what the main idea is.

The film is set in the 26th century and the story would take place 300 years after a societal collapse caused by a major war. It’s a technological dark age following a pinnacle of technological achievement far beyond where we are right now. Cyborg technology is a way of life. People are augmented a lot as workers, so being a cyborg is not unusual. Alita, the main character is a cyborg. She has an organic human brain, and she looks like she’s about fourteen years old.

She has a completely artificial body and she’s lost her memory. She is found in a wreckage and reconstituted by a cyber-surgeon (Dr. Ido) who becomes her surrogate father. Alita becomes a lethal, dangerous being. She cannot remember who she is, or where she came from. But to Dr. Ido, the truth is all too clear. She is the one being who can break the cycle of death and destruction left behind from Tiphares. But to accomplish her true purpose, she must fight and kill. And that is where Alita’s true significance comes to bear. She is an angel from heaven. She is an angel of death.

The film is not an original idea from Cameron like Avatar, but rather an adaptation on a manga written by Yukito Kishiro called “Battle Angel Alita”, which was released in Japan as “Gunnm”, and received an anime adaptation of the first few books, called “Battle Angel”.

The manga contains 8 books, while this movie will only cover the first 3. After the success of the original series, Yukito Kishiro wrote a sequel series, titles “Battle Angel Alita: Last Order”. This series is still ongoing, and follows the adventures of Alita as she explores her own past and tries to save her friends.

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