I was so excited to attend the CrunchyRoll Expo this year as, at the last minute, I heard that they were going to have panel for the new movie Alita: Battle Angel. If you’re not in the know, Alita: Battle Angel is set in a futuristic world where a young girl adventures to discover the truth of who she is and her fight to change the world. Alita: Battle Angel is based on Yukito Kishiro’s manga Battle Angel Alita.
I was lucky enough to get a chance to attend the panel that included (see in the photo above from left) the director Robert Rodriguez (director: Desperado, Sin City), actress Rosa Salazar (starred in: Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials) for Alita and producer Jon Landau (producer: Titanic, Avatar). Yukito Kishiro, the creator of Alita, was not able to attend, but as an additional treat to the audience they did have a video message from Kishiro. Kishiro shared how excited he is because the movie will stay true to the characters from his manga series.
During the panel Robert Rodriguez shared that the rights to the movie were bought as early as 1990’s but James Cameron did not want to do the movie until the technology was right. Rodriguez said he and his children watch anime on CrunchyRoll and he can see what draws an audience to these stories. Hearing Robert Rodriguez’s thought process in the making of the movie got me much more excited to see the movie.
Rosa Salazar was very excited about her role and took the character very seriously. She event started to learning martial arts and reading-up on manga! Also, she turned down a fashion related event, where she passed-up an opportunity to wear Vera Wang dresses, because it would take her away from being Alita. Now that’s dedication right there! She said she wanted to portray a strong character that everyone can relate to and genuinely had fun filming the movie.
Jon Landau, shown above, shared that, in some cases, they kept the essential heart of the manga following scenes from the actual manga/comic. They got lots of input from Kishiro and wanted to have a movie that was made by fans for fans. Here’s the trailer for the movie below:
I have to say the trailer looks amazing. Also, from the audience reaction at the panel that day, I wasn’t the only one who is excited to see the movie. Alita: Battle Angel is set to be released December 21st of this year. I can’t wait!
Editor’s Note: Allow me to introduce The Planet Skkaw’s first and newest contributor Gothy Panda! Gothy Panda recently attended the CrunchyRoll Expo in San Jose California and we are so thrilled that she shared her experience from the Alita: Battle Angel panel here. We’re looking forward to seeing more from Gothy Panda and if you enjoyed this be sure to keep following The Planet Skkaw!
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