Jackie Earle Haley has been featured in the pages of AITH a lot recently thanks to his roles in Preacher and THE DARK TOWER, but buckle down because here comes more. Haley, who also starred in WATCHMEN and A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 2010, will be joining Robert Rodriguez's upcoming manga adaptation ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL, produced by James Cameron.
Already cast are Rosa Salazar and Christoph Waltz. It is rumored that Haley will be playing "a monstrous cyborg in a villain role that will call for plenty of CG and greenscreen." That sounds right up his alley, don't you think?
Doctor Dyson Ido (Waltz) is a cybersurgeon who discovers a female cyborg (Salazar) in a scrapyard. With no memory of her previous life except her deadly martial-arts training, the woman becomes a bounty hunter, tracking down criminals. The action-adventure story is meant to serve as a backdrop to themes of self-discovery and the search for love. Ido becomes a mentor to the cyborg.
Fox is hoping to get the 26th century sci-fi film into production this Fall and aims to have the film in theatres in July 2018.