Alita: Battle Angel trailer reveals live-action adaptation of manga Read More:

For more than a decade, James Cameron was working on an adaptation of Yukito Kishiro's manga, Battle Angel Alita, before handing over direction to Spy Kids / Machete / Sin City director Robert Rodriguez. This project is finally advancing: Alita: Battle Angel is scheduled to hit theaters next year, and today, 20th Century Fox has released an initial trailer, in which its main character falls directly into the strange valley.

The story is set in the 26th century, and it is about a female cyborg, Alita (played by Maze Runner: Rose Salazar of the Cure of Death), who is rescued from a pile of garbage and repaired by Dr. Dyson Ido (Inglourious Basterds / Downsizing star Christoph Waltz). She discovers that her adoptive father shows up as a bounty hunter and joins him in his work, learning about the past lost in the process and driving away attackers who know more about his story than she does. Cameron, who is producing the film, said the film will be the "spine story" of the first four installments of the manga.

Cameron also wanted to film the entire film digitally, as he later did with Avatar. Rodriguez seems to have followed the same plans, because Alita is definitely a digital creation, and she stands out in her real-world environments as a green screen on a set. The character looks like an anime doll come to life, or as a Disney character who is just an out of the ordinary hair. It is probably a deliberate choice, intended to remind viewers every moment that Alita is not human. But after so many years of CGI animators trying to imitate compelling human faces and not succeeding, it's still unsettling to see a character hovering over something so realistic, as far as it goes.

Alita: Battle Angel hits theaters on July 20, 2018.