That long-simmering adaptation of the Battle Angel Alita manga is looking like much more of a reality as Christoph Waltz—one of Hollywood’s go-to-bad guys—is allegedly in talks to play a possible mentor for the titular character.
The Hollywood Reporter broke the story, and notes that Waltz is still in very early talks to join Alita: Battle Angel, which has already lined up The Maze Runner series’ Rosa Salazar as the titular Alita. As envisioned by Yukito Kishiro’s manga series in 1990, Alita is a cyborg, discovered in a scrapyard without any memories of her true identity. Though without memories, she is not without impressive fighting abilities that she retained from her past, going on to become a feared bounty hunter who tracked and killed the deadliest criminals in the future.
Nerdist has reached out for comment but has yet to hear at the time of publication. We will update this story as more information becomes available.
If Waltz signs on, he would portray Doctor Dyson Ido, the cybernetic doctor who rebuilds Alita’s broken body while acting as a friendly guide to her. (In the manga series, Ido was also a bounty hunter.) Waltz is best known for his villainous turns in Spectre, Inglourious Basterds, Green Hornet, and The Legend of Tarzan, so it’ll be nice to see him do something slightly different (roles like those in Django Unchained and The Zero Theorem not withstanding).
James Cameron initially attempted to bring Battle Angel to the big screen, but after a decade of gestation he stepped aside from the director’s chair to focus on the Avatar sequels. Last year, Robert Rodriguez joined the project as the new director, and it may finally begin filming this fall for a potential 2018 release.
Are you excited to see Waltz show off more of his dramatic range in Alita: Battle Angel? Let us know in the comment section below!
Image: Sony Pictures Classic
