Alita: Battle Angel is a 2019 American cyberpunk action movie based on the manga by Yukito Kishiro Gunnm (aka Battle Angel Alita in English). It was directed by Robert Rodriguez, produced by James Cameron and Jon Landau and written by Cameron and Laeta Kalogridis. Rosa Salazar plays Alita, a cyborg who awakens in a new body with no memory of her past and sets out to discover her fate. Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly, Mahershala Ali, Ed Skrein, Jackie Earle Haley and Keean Johnson star in supporting roles.
Announced in 2003, production has been repeatedly delayed due to Cameron's work on Avatar (2009) and its sequels. After years of development hell, Rodriguez was announced as the director of Alita in April 2016, with Salazar cast as the lead the following month. Principal shooting began in October 2016 in Austin, Texas, mainly at Rodriguez's Troublemaker Studios, and ran through February 2017.
Alita: Battle Angel premiered at London's Leicester Square Theater on January 31, 2019 and was released in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Macau, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan on February 5, 2019, marking the new Chinese Year . It was released in the United States on February 14, 2019 by 20th Century Fox in RealD 3D, Dolby Cinema, 4DX, ScreenX, and IMAX 3D formats. It is the first Lightstorm Entertainment film since Avatar and the last film released by 20th Century Fox prior to Disney's acquisition of 21st Century Fox. The film grossed over $ 404 million worldwide. making it Rodriguez's highest-grossing film, and received generally mixed reviews from critics, who praised Salazar's performance, action scenes and visual effects, but criticized the script.
