Boy, talk abut huge disappointment and even more waiting....
I knew James Cameron has been working on a film version of Gunnm/Battle Angel Alita for a long while now, but it wasn’t until this past year I finally gave in and decided to check it out. Afteral, if its being turned into a movie, it must be good, right? I’m so glad I read it! Even though it was pretty gory at times, it was such a great series and I really liked its story. After I read it I was very hyped to see the movie. Unfortunately, it sounds like Cameron will be putting this on the back burner for a while longer. He said after his current action film, Avatar (has nothing to do with that Nicktoon of the same name) he wants to work on a smaller project. I think another reason why hes putting it on hold is because hes still waiting for technology to advance a little further, as that's what he said in past interviews. Its understandable though, with a series like this, alot of CGI will be needed to recreate the futuristic setting, and especially Gally/Alita herself. I just hope he doesn’t wait too long too get this done, because i’m worried that the project will have to be scrapped years from now and all that hype was for none.
It is also unfortunate we can’t get a new anime adaptation while we wait. I hear Cameron has bought up all the rights for Battle Angel, including rights to the short OVA Madhouse made years back (not the manga version though), which prevents a new anime adaptation from happening. I think the reason why he also did this is that he knows that if a new anime is made, it will generate new interest in the series as well as lots of fans and people will end up comparing it to his movie. So he most likely wants to keep the series as unknown as possible for this reason. Its depressing knowing how hes monopolizing the rights like that and its unfair for those of us who want to see something come out of this series, whether it be a movie or anime series, especially if hes just sitting on the license like that. In today’s age of anime, theres been tons of manga being turned anime and old anime given new life. If Cameron didn’t have all the rights, i’m sure some animation studio would have picked it up by now and made a new Battle Angel anime. Maybe Madhouse would have tuned it into an actual series like what they did with X.
I know this is technically old news, but I didn’t find it out until recently. I guess only time will tell what will come of all this. At least I have the sequel to the manga, “Last Order” to keep me occupied for now.
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