Chennai: James Cameron’s new cyberpunk science fiction film, Alita: Battle Angel was shown its sneak peek for media persons here at the Palazzo theatre in Forum Mall, Chennai.
Alita: Battle Angel is based on the manga comic, Battle Angel Alita written by Japanese artists, Yukito Kishiro. The film is produced by James Cameron and his longtime collaborator, Jon Landau. Cameron penned the screenplay along with Laeta Kalogridis, known for writing the script for Shutter Island (2010).
The sneak peek began with a recorded interview of Cameron. He said that he couldn’t come for the sneak peek as ‘I am busy with the squeals of Avatar probably for the rest of my lives’. Cameron then explained that when he wrote the screenplay of Alita: Battle Angel, he had over 600 pages of notes about the characters. He then reached out to Robert Rodriguez known for directing, Sin City. Robert added his own ideas to the screenplay and Cameron was satisfied with the result. Eventually, Robert was hired to direct the film.
The story set in future is about Alita (Rosa Salazar) a cyborg who is found in a trash yard by Ido (Christoph Waltz), a compassionate doctor. I do realise that somewhere in this abandoned cyborg shell is the heart and soul of a young woman with an extraordinary past. Alita soon awakens with no memory of who she is in a world she does not recognize. Soon Alita learns to navigate her new life in the treacherous streets of Iron City and learn about her past.
Reports from western media reveal that the VFX technology employed in this movie will be as appealing as the one that was used in the groundbreaking film, Avatar. A few emotionally gripping scenes were shown during the sneak peek and sure enough, the visuals were absolutely stunning. The movie will be released in February 2019.