Director James Cameron (Titanic, T2, Terminator, Aliens) revealed in a recent interview on NPR that he is in pre-production on a feature film based on Battle Angel Alita, the Viz manga by Yukito Kishiro. Cameron has been rumored for years to be working on this project (see 'Battle Angel Alita 2nd Edition Contains Extra Material'); this is his first official confirmation.
According to the interview, this will be a live action film with the main character done with CGI animation; Cameron plans to shoot the film in 3D.
Production is scheduled to start next year, with the film planned for release in 2007.
The anime feature, Battle Angel, was released in the U.S. by ADVision in 1999. Viz has released six volumes of its Battle Angel Alita 2nd Edition ($9.95) series, and four volumes of the new series, Battle Angel Alita: Last Order.
With a long run-up, the biggest director in the business, and a strong sci-fi property, this could be one of the top merchandising opportunities of the next couple of the years.
