Alita: Battle Angel

• 1. Introduction

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  Alita: Battle Angel existed as nothing more than a registered domain name years before it became a movie. Around June 2000, 20th Century Fox registered battleangelalita.com to producer James Cameron, long before a single scene had been filmed. The film that finally emerged in 2019 adapts Yukito Kishiro's cyberpunk manga series Battle Angel Alita. It follows a cyborg named Alita, who wakes in a new body with no memory of who she was. She sets out to uncover her own past.

  Robert Rodriguez directed the film from a script Cameron co-wrote with Laeta Kalogridis, and Rosa Salazar played Alita through motion capture and CGI animation. The film held its world premiere at the Odeon Leicester Square in London on the 31st of January 2019. Why did a project Cameron registered a website for in 2000 take so long to reach a screen? What made finding an actress to play a character with no memory and no fixed face such a drawn-out search? And once the film finally opened, what pulled it back into theaters more than a year later?

• 2. Two Decades On Cameron's Desk

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  Guillermo del Toro was the filmmaker who first put Yukito Kishiro's early 1990s manga in front of James Cameron. Cameron became enamored with it almost immediately. In April 2003, the site Moviehole reported that Cameron had confirmed he would direct a Battle Angel film. Cameron backed that up himself on the 4th of May 2003. During an interview on Fuji TV's Tokudane! program, he confirmed that a script was already in production. At the time, Battle Angel was slotted to follow his TV series Dark Angel, a show the manga had itself influenced. It was later pushed to follow his film Aliens of the Deep instead, in January 2005.

  The Hollywood Reporter announced in June 2005 that the film was being delayed again. This time the cause was a project Cameron called Project 880, which would later become Avatar. Entertainment Weekly ran an interview with him in February 2006, in which he said his deal with Fox required him to produce both films. Battle Angel was slated for September 2009 at the time. By June 2006 Cameron was describing Battle Angel as the second of two film trilogies he planned, with Avatar as the first. In May 2008 he added a further delay, saying he would first make The Dive, a planned biography of freedivers Francisco Ferreras and Audrey Mestre. That July, at San Diego Comic-Con, he insisted he remained committed to the project. By December 2009 he told MTV News that a script for Battle Angel had at last been finished.

  Jon Landau, the film's producer, said in February 2010 that he was pushing Cameron to shorten the title. He wanted it changed from the manga's name to Alita: Battle Angel. Cameron explained the change would let future sequels follow the same naming pattern. He joked that the next ones might be called Alita: Fallen Angel or Alita: Avenging Angel, assuming the film made money. Landau also confirmed that screenwriter Laeta Kalogridis had already been writing the film. Cameron said in August 2010 that the film was still on his radar. That October, though, he confirmed his next two films would be Avatar sequels instead. By June 2011 he was blunter, saying, "Battle Angel is not going to happen for a few years." He explained that he wanted Avatar to raise public awareness of environmental protection first.

  By July 2013, during an interview with director Alfonso Cuaron, Cameron set 2017 as the year production would finally begin. The Hollywood Reporter revealed in October 2015 that Robert Rodriguez was negotiating to direct the newly retitled Alita: Battle Angel. Cameron stayed on to produce, alongside Landau. Cameron had brought Rodriguez in to condense his own 186-page screenplay and around 600 pages of notes into a workable shooting script. That work alone earned Rodriguez the director's job. In April 2016 the Hollywood Reporter reported that Fox had not yet greenlit the film while trying to cut its budget below $175-200 million. The same report confirmed Rodriguez as director. By late May 2016, Fox had scheduled the film for a the 20th of July 2018 release. Rodriguez, though, would spend the next several months searching for an actress capable of playing a character built almost entirely inside a computer.

• 3. Finding Alita

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  Three actresses made Fox's final shortlist for Alita in April 2016: Maika Monroe, Rosa Salazar and Zendaya, with a decision reportedly due within weeks. Zendaya's former Shake It Up co-star Bella Thorne had also read for the part. Collider reported near the end of that May that Salazar had won the role.

  Christoph Waltz entered negotiations in August 2016 to play Dr. Dyson Ido, the film's equivalent of the manga's Daisuke Ido. Jackie Earle Haley was announced as a cyborg villain on the 14th of September 2016. Variety reported a week later, on the 21st, that Ed Skrein was in talks for a role. The Hollywood Reporter later confirmed the role as the antagonist Zapan.

  Keean Johnson was cast on the 30th of September 2016 as Hugo, the scrap dealer who becomes Alita's love interest. Hugo also draws her into the sport of Motorball. The studio had also considered Avan Jogia, Douglas Booth, Jack Lowden and Noah Silver for the part. It chose Johnson instead for looking, in the studio's own words, more ethnically ambiguous. Mahershala Ali was reported in talks on the 3rd of October to play Vector, the man who rigs the Motorball matches. He later won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar at the 89th Academy Awards. In an interview after that win, Ali revealed he actually played two roles in the film, without saying what the second one was.

  Eiza Gonzalez, already a lead on Rodriguez's series From Dusk till Dawn: The Series, joined the cast on the 5th of October 2016. Jorge Lendeborg Jr. followed two days later as Hugo's friend, and Lana Condor joined on the 11th to play the orphaned teenager Koyomi. Leonard Wu was cast as the cyborg Kinuba on the 18th of October, and Marko Zaror joined in December 2016 to play the cyborg Ajakutty. Jennifer Connelly signed on the 7th of February 2017 for an unspecified villainous role. Michelle Rodriguez's casting was announced retroactively on the 22nd of February, after filming had already wrapped.

• 4. Built From The Ground Up

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  James Cameron intended to render Alita entirely in CGI back when he still planned to direct the film himself. He planned to reuse tools built for Avatar, including the Fusion Camera System, facial motion capture and the Simulcam. Variety reported in May 2006 that Cameron had already spent ten months developing that technology for the project. Pre-production work continued for years afterward. Digital artist Mark Goerner, who had spent a year and a half on the film, said in October 2018 that it was mostly finished.

  Cameron revealed in a February 2019 interview that he had placed the floating city of Zalem over Panama City. He explained that Zalem does not actually float; it hangs from a space elevator, a structure that only works physically near the equator. That choice shaped Iron City below it, which the production designed with Spanish-language signage and Latin American architecture.

  Principal photography began at Robert Rodriguez's Troublemaker Studios in Austin, Texas, on the 17th of October 2016 and wrapped on the 9th of February 2017. A casting call went out in late January 2017 for rocker, punk and emo extras. They filled out scenes shot on the nights of the 3rd, 6th and the 7th of February. Rosa Salazar spent five months in what the production called exhaustive martial arts training. She studied Eagle Claw Kung Fu, Muay Thai and staff work to prepare for Alita's fight scenes. Cameron also had the film pay tribute to Bruce Lee, visible in the punching technique Alita practices in front of a mirror.

  Weta Digital, DNEG and Framestore handled the film's visual effects, supervised by Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, Nick Epstein, Raymond Chen and Nigel Denton-Howes. Weta Digital led work on the Alita digital puppet itself. The company had to redesign its own motion-capture methods to catch the finer details of Salazar's performance. None of that puppetry would reach an audience until the studio worked out how to sell a photoreal cyborg lead to the public.

• 5. Selling A Face That Isn't Human

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  The teaser trailer for Alita: Battle Angel arrived on the 8th of December 2017, built around a planned July 2018 release date. The footage got a mixed response focused almost entirely on Alita's appearance. Andrew Liptak of The Verge wrote that the character "looks like an anime doll come to life." He called the effect unsettling even after years of CGI trying to convincingly mimic human faces. Adam Chitwood of Collider was more optimistic, calling the footage "bonkers." He admitted he did not know if the film would be good, but said it seemed at least interesting.

  The first full trailer premiered at San Diego Comic-Con and went online on the 23rd of July 2018, aimed at a December 2018 release. It featured a cover of Linkin Park's "New Divide," performed by composer J2 with vocalist Avery. A third trailer followed in November 2018, nearly a year after the first teaser.

  A tie-in novel titled Iron City, written by science fiction author Pat Cadigan, arrived on the 20th of November 2018. It told a prequel story about residents of Iron City before the film's events. An audiobook version, narrated by Brian Nishii, came out the same day. A second book, Dr. Ido's Journal by Nick Aires, followed on the 19th of February 2019, alongside the film's official novelization, also written by Cadigan. Three hundred limited copies of The Art and Making of the Movie by Abbie Bernstein were signed by Rodriguez himself.

  In January 2019, Cameron and Fox worked with Open Bionics to give thirteen-year-old double amputee Tilly Lockey a pair of Alita-inspired bionic Hero Arms. She wore them at the film's London premiere. The following month, Fox partnered with Iam8bit on Passport to Iron City, a walk-through recreation of the film's setting. It was staged in New York City, Los Angeles and Austin.

  English-Albanian singer Dua Lipa was announced on the 17th of December 2018 as the performer of "Swan Song," a track for the soundtrack. The song and its music video, directed by Floria Sigismondi, arrived on the 24th of January 2019. Composer Tom Holkenborg wrote the film's score and co-wrote "Swan Song" with Lipa. The soundtrack album was released digitally on the 14th of February 2019 by Milan Records, with a physical edition following the next day. That same week, the marketing push collided with the film's actual theatrical rollout across multiple continents.

• 6. A Global Rollout And A Lawsuit

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  Fox pushed Alita: Battle Angel's release date twice before it finally opened. It moved from the 20th of July 2018 to the 21st of December, then shifted again for a PG-13 cut of Deadpool 2. On the 28th of January 2019, Cameron announced free one-day previews across the United States for the 31st, ahead of the general release. Fox then staggered the international rollout. Hong Kong, Indonesia, Macau, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan got the film on the 5th of February, timed to Chinese New Year. The Philippines followed on the 6th, India on the 8th, and Japan and mainland China on the 22nd.

  The US release on the 14th of February 2019 turned out to be the last film 20th Century Fox distributed as an independent studio. The Walt Disney Company completed its acquisition of Fox a month later, on the 20th of March 2019. Future releases went out under Disney starting with Breakthrough.

  Epic Stone Group, a Florida multimedia company, sued Fox on the 30th of January 2019 for trademark infringement over the name Battle Angel. The company claimed it had filed the trademark in 2009 for computer games, action figures and other merchandise. It had also filed a new application in April 2018 covering DVDs, e-books, films and television programs. Epic Stone Group moved to dismiss its own suit on the 30th of May 2019.

  Fox released Alita: Battle Angel digitally on the 9th of July 2019, followed by Blu-ray, 4K Ultra HD and DVD editions on the 23rd. The 4K disc was Fox's first release to use Dolby Vision, shown alongside the rival HDR10+ format. It also included a bonus 3D version on a separate disc. The film went on to top the Blu-ray sales charts for two weeks running. None of that home-video success settled the question critics had already been arguing about in theaters months earlier.

• 7. A Split Verdict

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  Alita: Battle Angel opened in 3,790 theaters across the United States and Canada. It was initially projected to earn $18-22 million over its first weekend, with early four-day estimates closer to $25 million. The film made $8.7 million on its first day, including $2.4 million from Wednesday night previews, which pushed five-day projections up to $36-40 million. It then earned $7.5 million on its second day and opened at $28.5 million for the weekend, finishing first at the box office. Opening weekend audiences were 60% male and 40% female, and 44% white, 21% Hispanic, 15% Asian American and 14% African American. The film then dropped 58% in its second weekend to $12 million, finishing second behind the newcomer How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World. It earned $7 million in its third weekend.

  The film opened a week early in eleven international markets, including ten Asian countries and the United Kingdom. It debuted at number two in South Korea and number one in Taiwan, where it was Fox's fourth-biggest opening ever. In the UK, 42% of its gross came from 3D screenings, and in Malaysia it was Fox's second-biggest opening on record. By its second international weekend, spread across 86 markets, it ranked as the world's second-highest-grossing film that week. It earned $84 million worldwide that weekend, behind the Chinese film The Wandering Earth.

  In China, opening-day gross on the 22nd of February surpassed expectations. The studio had raised its opening-weekend projection more than once beforehand, and the film became Fox's biggest opening ever in the country. Alita also set a new February IMAX record there, drawing 14% of its China gross from 603 IMAX screens. The Chinese audience split 54% male and 46% female. Japan opened the film that same week. By its third international weekend, spanning 82 markets, Alita topped the entire worldwide box office with $104.4 million.

  It became Robert Rodriguez's highest-grossing film to date, though its finances stayed contested afterward. Fox insiders quoted a lower break-even threshold, while outside financial publications put the true number needed to break even at $400-500 million worldwide. Some observers maintained the film cleared that bar by the end of its theatrical run; others estimated its losses at as much as $53 million.

  Rotten Tomatoes' critical consensus said the film's "story struggles to keep up with its special effects." It judged that fans of futuristic sci-fi action would still find plenty to enjoy. On Metacritic the film scored 53 out of 100 based on 49 critics, landing in the site's mixed-or-average range. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave it an average grade of A-minus, while PostTrak scored it 78% positive overall, with 59% giving it a definite recommendation.

  IndieWire's Michael Nordine graded the film a B-plus, calling it Rodriguez's best work since he adapted Frank Miller's graphic novel. He said it kept viewers "wanting more." Variety's Guy Lodge praised Rodriguez's effort but found the film muddled, describing it as a "protracted, soul-challenged Frankenstory." RogerEbert.com's Monica Castillo gave it 2.5 out of 4. She credited Rodriguez, cinematographer Bill Pope, and editors Stephen E. Rivkin and Ian Silverstein for outrunning rough patches with fast, colorful action. New York magazine's Emily Yoshida was critical overall but said Salazar's performance, and "those goddamned big eyes," carried the film. Jeffrey Anderson gave it 2 out of 5 stars, calling it a "juggernaut-sized sci-fi movie" weighed down by genre cliches and bad dialogue.

  Kishiro, the manga's creator, praised the adaptation as "the greatest movie in the world." He said he noticed something new every time he watched it, and called the composition amazing. He felt the film had captured his characters' emotion and reason for being, and said the experience made him very happy.

  The film earned nominations across more than a dozen award bodies, from the Annie Awards to the Visual Effects Society Awards. Most of them recognized its visual effects or Rosa Salazar's motion-capture performance. It won Best Science Fiction Film at both the Dragon Awards and the Saturn Awards. "Swan Song" picked up a Best Original Song nomination at the Satellite Awards. Despite that attention, the film was submitted for Best Visual Effects at the 92nd Academy Awards but failed to make the shortlist. That Oscar snub did nothing to quiet the campaign already building among fans for a sequel.

• 8. Chasing A Sequel

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  Edward Norton's uncredited, non-speaking cameo as Nova was written as a setup for a sequel. Cameron and Rodriguez announced plans for that sequel on the 6th of February 2019. Michelle Rodriguez and Jai Courtney's uncredited cameos, as Alita's mentor Gelda and Motorball champion Jashugan, were intended the same way. They planted larger roles for a follow-up film. Christoph Waltz said in April 2020 that he had heard no sequel discussions. He doubted one would happen once Disney owned Fox, guessing it might not fit the studio's culture.

  Rodriguez said in January 2021 that he still hoped a sequel would get made. In an interview with The Nerdy Basement, he said he would pitch an Alita follow-up under one condition. His series The Book of Boba Fett would need to, in his words, knock people's socks off. In December 2022, Rodriguez and Cameron took what they called a virtual blood oath to make the sequel happen.

  Producer Jon Landau confirmed in April 2023 that the sequel had entered active development, with Rodriguez directing and Rosa Salazar returning as Alita. Cameron said that July that he was working on more than one sequel. In November 2025 he said he and Rodriguez were writing the script together and remained committed to finishing it.

  A social media campaign in September 2020 saw fans petition cinema chain Cinemark to bring Alita: Battle Angel back to theaters before the year ended. The goal was to prove there was an audience for a sequel. Cinemark said it would consider it. On the 7th of October, Cameron confirmed the film would return to select theaters on the 30th, voicing his support for the AlitaArmy movement online. Rodriguez did the same. Regal Cinemas and AMC Theatres both agreed to screen it. Regal soon announced temporary closures of its own, though, as the COVID-19 pandemic cut into theater attendance. The re-release went ahead as planned on the 30th of October 2020.

  Rodriguez later summed up what that campaign proved to him: "The fans still didn't let anyone forget that they loved that movie. It's almost better than having a movie that does really well but no one remembers in 6 to 8 years."