Production has been under way on the highly-anticipatedAlita: Battle Angelfor the past few months, with filming coming to an end last week. While a number ofcast memberswere announced last year, there is one mystery role that hasn’t been announced until today, withMichelle Rodriguezbeing cast as Gelda from the original manga byYukito Kishiro. It remains to be seen how faithful this movie version of Gelda is to the source material, but in the original manga, Gelda was described as a “slim cyborg warrior.”
Entertainment Weeklybroke the news, although it remains unclear if there are other mystery characters that haven’t been announced at this time.Michelle Rodriguezjoins a cast that includesRosa Salazaras the title character, alongsideChristoph Waltz,Eiza Gonzalez,Jackie Earle Haley,Mahershala Ali,Ed Skrein,Jennifer ConnollyandLana Condor. This project has been in development for several years, withJames Cameronoriginally set to direct, before he handed over the directorial reins toRobert Rodriguez.
Set in the 26th century, the story takes place 300 years after a societal collapse caused by a major war. But in that society, it’s a technological dark age following a pinnacle of achievement far, far beyond where we are right now. It’s apost-apocalyptic worldfrom a very high level with cyborg technology as just a way of life. People are augmented a lot as workers and so on, with cyborgs becoming an everyday part of life in this day and age.
The main characterAlitais 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, when she’s found in a wreckage and she’s reconstituted by a cyber-surgeon who becomes her surrogate father.Robert Rodriguezdirects from a screenplay written byJames Cameronand hisAvatarco-writerLaeta Kalogridis, based on the manga novels created byYukito Kishiro. 20th Century Fox has already issued a July 20, 2018release date, giving the filmmakers nearly a year and a half for post-production. The film will go up against an untitled DreamWorks Animation project, but it also falls betweenHotel Transylvania 3andThe Nunon July 13, 2025 andMission: Impossible 6on August 18, 2025.
This movie reunitesMichelle RodriguezwithJames Cameron, after she starred in his 2009 record-breaking blockbusterAvatar, and also reunites the actress with herMacheteandMachete KillsdirectorRobert Rodriguez.Michelle Rodriguezwill next be seen reprising her role as Letty in Universal’sThe Fate of the Furious, in theaters April 14, and voicing Smurfstorm in Sony’sSmurfs: The Lost Village, in theaters July 31, 2025. Hopefully we’ll learn : Battle Angelsoon, and with production now wrapped, it remains to be seen when the first trailer may arrive.
