Producer Jon Landau told the MTV Splash Page website that director James Cameron is planning his film adaptation of Yukito Kishiro's Battle Angel Alita (GUNNM) manga after the sequel to the #1 all-time blockbuster, Avatar. He also noted that it was another auteur director, Guillermo del Toro (Hellboy, Pan's Labyrinth, The Hobbit), who actually brought the manga to Cameron and Landau's attention.

Landau explained how screenwriter Laeta Kalogridis (Shutter Island, Ghost in the Shell) expanded Cameron and Landau's awareness of the manga after she was brought onboard the project. Cameron and Landau were already familiar with one of the manga volumes and the anime adaptation, but Kalogridis "opened us up to the other nine books that exist, and how rich that world is.”

As a result, Cameron decided to make Avatar first. Landau added, “We really wanted to take our time in developing a large arc-ing story
that really encompasses the whole world [of Battle Angel Alita]. We were very close to doing that movie before we did Avatar, and I think you'll see that resurface. That's a story in our minds about: What does it mean to be human? What does it mean to fall in love? Are you human if you have a heart? Are you human if you have a mind? Or are you human if you just have a body? It's a journey of self-discovery for a young girl.”

Landau half-jokingly said that the film will be called "Alita: Battle Angel" since "Jim only does T&A movies" such as Titanic, Aliens, Terminator, Abyss, True Lies, and Avatar.

Producer Jon Landau said in an MTV Splash Page video interview that he and director James Cameron (Avatar, Titanic, Terminator) want to adapt the earlier chapters from Yukito Kishiro's Battle Angel Alita (GUNNM) manga into a 3D film — in particular, the Motorball sequences. He explained that the early parts of the cyborg girl's story tell the "more fascinating side where Alita's lost her memory and she doesn't know where she comes from. And it's when she discovers where she comes from, she's terrified of it and doesn't believe that that's who she really is."

Landau also described what "excites" the producer/director team about the Motorball sequences with cyborg characters racing and dueling against each other: "It's almost like a gladiator match meets an Indy 500 race. [Their mode of battle] depends on who they are. It depends how they've been modified as cyborgs; they're not in cars — it's their physical being that is out there."

Landau had previously said that Cameron would adapt Battle Angel after a sequel to the #1 all-time grossing film worldwide, Avatar. He added then that he and Cameron had been familiar with one of the manga volumes and the anime adaptation of Battle Angel, but screenwriter Laeta Kalogridis (Shutter Island, Ghost in the Shell) introduced them to the other nine books in the manga.

Viz Media publishes the Battle Angel Alita manga and Kishiro's later Battle Angel Alita: Last Order story. ADV Films had released the anime adaptation on DVD.

Here is some footage of the Motorball races from a PS1 game based on the Battle Angel Alita manga. Imagine this, but done with full Avatar-style 3D. Holy crap.

The Variety entertainment news source reports that director James Cameron has signed a deal with 20th Century Fox to make Avatar 2 and Avatar 3 as his next films. The films, which were confirmed by Fox Filmed Entertainment chairmen Jim Gianopulos and Tom Rothman, will open in December 2014 and December 2015, respectively.

Cameron has been working on a film adaptation of Yukito Kishiro's Battle Angel Alita (GUNNM) manga since at least 2003. As recently as this past August, Cameron confirmed that the project is "still on my radar. It's a story I love. I wrote the script back before I started Avatar. And again, we have to figure out where it lies. I don't have infinite time."

In 2004, Cameron discussed the pre-production work that he was doing for Battle Angel after the documentary Aliens of the Deep. In 2005, The Hollywood Reporter magazine reported that Cameron may first film "Project 880," an early name for the project that became Avatar. In 2008, Cameron said he was not planning to do Battle Angel after Avatar. Last year, Cameron said that he was considering it for his next project and that the project was already scripted and had a year of design work. However, Cameron also said this year that Battle Angel would come after an Avatar sequel.

Kishiro's manga ran in Shueisha's Business Jump magazine from 1990 to 1995, followed by the 1995-1996 follow-up Ashen Victor and the single-volume GUNNM: Other Stories. The story continued in 2001 with the retelling Battle Angel Alita: Last Order, which is currently on hiatus as the result of an issue between Kishiro and Shueisha's Ultra Jump magazine. Kishiro plans to move the manga to another publisher, Kodansha. Viz Media has licensed all but Other Stories for release in North America. In 1993, a two-episode original video anime (OVA) project based on the manga was released, and ADV Films licensed the anime.

Director James Cameron told the Collider.com website this past weekend that he still intends to personally direct a film adaptation of Yukito Kishiro's Battle Angel Alita (GUNNM) manga. Because Cameron and 20th Century Fox plan to release two Avatar sequels on December 2014 and December 2015, the director said that he "had to consider, do I hand Battle Angel off to another director? And then I thought, 'No, I love it too much.'"

Cameron added that he plans to adapt "the spine story" of the manga with elements from the first four books. Specifically, he intends to include the deadly high-speed competition of Motorball from the third and fourth books, along with elements from the first two books. Cameron has been working on an adaptation of the manga since at least 2003, and he already commissioned a script and a year of design work.

Kishiro's manga ran in Shueisha's Business Jump magazine from 1990 to 1995, followed by the 1995-1996 follow-up Ashen Victor and the single-volume GUNNM: Other Stories. The story continued in 2001 with the retelling Battle Angel Alita: Last Order, which is currently on hiatus as the result of an issue between Kishiro and Shueisha's Ultra Jump magazine. Kishiro plans to move the manga to another publisher, Kodansha. Viz Media has licensed all but Other Stories for release in North America. In 1993, Hiroshi Fukutomi adapted the manga into a two-episode original video anime (OVA) project, and ADV Films licensed the anime.

James Cameron: 'Battle Angel still underway

Director James Cameron reiterated on Thursday that his Battle Angel Alita film will be delayed until he finishes his two sequels to Avatar. Cameron said: "I'm doing a second and third Avatar film. We're at the writing stage right now, early design, doing software development and so on. Battle Angel is right now on hold until those films are done."

Cameron made the comments at a dinner in his honor hosted by the charity Covenant House California.

According to an interview at the end of January, Cameron said he was planning to adapt "the spine story" of the Battle Angel Alita manga with elements from the first four books. Cameron has been working on an adaptation of the manga since at least 2003, and he already commissioned a script and a year of design work.

Kishiro's manga ran in Shueisha's Business Jump magazine from 1990 to 1995, followed by the 1995-1996 follow-up Ashen Victor and the single-volume GUNNM: Other Stories. The story continued in 2001 with the retelling Battle Angel Alita: Last Order, which moved to Kodansha's Evening magazine as the result of an issue between Kishiro and Shueisha's Ultra Jump magazine.

James Cameron’s more than 15-year journey to bring manga comic Battle Angel Alita to the big screen may be nearing an end.
Robert Rodriguez is in negotiations to direct the live action adaptation of the manga graphic novels that will be produced by Cameron and his Lightstorm Entertainment partner Jon Landau.
Titled Alita: Battle Angel, the project tells of a female cyborg that is discovered in a trash yard by a scientist. With no memory of her previous life except her deadly martial arts training, the woman becomes a bounty hunter, tracking down criminals.
The action-adventure story is meant to serve as a backdrop to themes of self-discovery and the search for love.
"Robert and I have been looking for a film to do together for years, so I was pumped when he said he wanted to do Battle Angel," stated Cameron. "He's very collaborative and we're already like two kids building a go-kart, just having fun riffing creatively and technically. This project is near and dear to me, and there's nobody I trust more than Robert, with his technical virtuosity and rebel style, to take over the directing reins. We're looking forward to learning a lot from each other while we make a kick-ass epic."
Added Rodriguez: "Battle Angel is an incredibly rich and vibrant epic in the tradition of Jim Cameron's spectacular, character-driven films. Getting to work from Jim’s terrific and visionary script while learning the cutting edge techniques he’s pioneered is a master class in filmmaking. It's an honor to explore the world of Alita along with Jim and Jon, whose films have impacted me for decades."
Cameron for years intended to direct Alita but other projects kept getting in the way, notably Avatar, which took his attention further when he decided he was going to make three sequels back to back to back.
The project had a script by Laeta Kalogridis (Shutter Island) but it is unclear whether it had undergone further work.

James Cameron and Robert Rodriguez are zeroing in on their female actor to star in Alita: Battle Angel, Fox’s ambitious adaptation of the popular manga graphic novels.
Rodriguez is on board to direct what is envisioned as a big-budget tentpole, while Cameron and his Lightstorm Entertainment partner Jon Landau are producing.
The movie has not been greenlighted as budgetary issues are still being worked out while the studio seeks to bring it down from the $175 million-$200 million range.
The following trio tested for the film, The Hollywood Reporter has learned: Maika Monroe, who starred in It Follows and will appear in this summer's Independence Day: Resurgence; Rosa Salazar, who appeared in Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials and recently wrapped shooting Warner Bros.’ big-screen take of CHiPs; and Zendaya, the Disney Channel star of K.C. Undercover who is one of the female leads of Spider-Man: Homecoming. Bella Thorne, who starred with Zendaya on the TV series Shake It Up and appeared in Alvin & the Chipmunks: Road Chip, also tested, say sources.
Sources say that Cameron and Rodriguez want to create a star-making vehicle akin to Cameron’s Dark Angel, the TV series that ran from 2000 to 2002 and became a platform for Jessica Alba. Sources also say that Zendaya could be the frontrunner for the role, but that scheduling issues with her hit TV show present a stumbling block.
Alita: Battle Angel tells of a female cyborg that is discovered in a scrapyard by a scientist. With no memory of her previous life except her deadly martial-arts training, the woman becomes a bounty hunter, tracking down criminals. The action-adventure story is meant to serve as a backdrop to themes of self-discovery and the search for love.
A decision on the actresses is expected in the coming weeks.