Cameron Plugs Into 3D "Alita"

Following the success of "Avatar", director James Cameron will sequel his 'Pandora' universe with more "Avatar" stories, as well as continue developing other projects including the long-gestating adaptation of Japanese anime comic book "Battle Angel Alita".

The original manga series was created in 1990 by Yukito Kishiro, originally published in 'Shueisha's Business Jump' magazine.

Set in the 26th Century, "Battle Angel Alita" follows the story of 'Alita', an amnesiac female cyborg, whose body is found in a state of suspended animation by 'cybermedic' expert 'Daisuke Ido'.

Naming her 'Alita' after his recently deceased cat, Ido revives and rebuilds the girl, discovering she possesses an instinctive knowledge of the martial art 'Panzer Kunst', although she has no other memories of a previous life.

Alita uses Panzer Kunst as a link to her lost past, evolving into a mercenary 'Hunter-Warrior', killing cyborg criminals in the 'Scrapyard' during the sport of 'Motorball'.

Then while pushing her limits in combat, Alita awakens memories of an earlier life on Mars.

Cameron's feature would be a live-action adaption of the first of three volumes of the manga series in a trilogy, lensed with the digital 3D system developed for "Avatar".

"...If people are familiar with the series at all, there’s something they call 'Motorball'", said "Alita" producer Jon Landau.

"That is something that Jim has always been dynamically excited about. It’s racing on a super track, with characters that are built and created in the cyborg world to race against each other in an arena. It’s almost like a gladiator match meets an Indy 500 race. It depends how they’ve been modified as cyborgs,. They’re not in cars – it’s their physical being that is out there. Some of them are on roller skates – and Alita participates in this, and she’s on roller blades, while other people might have different devices. It’s a wonderful, rich world to design and develop..."

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