Rosa Salazar, Keean Johnson Alita: Battle Angel is a 2019 American cyberpunk action film based on the 90s series Battle Angel Alita by Japanese manga artist Yukito Kishiro and its 1993 original video animation adaptation, Battle Angel. It was directed by Robert Rodriguez, produced by James Cameron and written by Cameron and Laeta Kalogridis. Rosa Salazar stars through a performance capture animation to Alita, a cyborg who awakens in a new body with no memories of her past and sets out to discover her destiny. Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly, Mahershala Ali, Ed Skrein, Jackie Earle Haley and Keean Johnson star in supporting roles. Announced in 2003, production was repeatedly delayed due to Cameron’s work in Avatar (2009) and its sequels. After years of development hell, Rodriguez was announced as Alita’s director in April 2016, and Salazar was cast as the star the following month. Principal photography began in October 2016 in Austin, Texas, primarily at Troublemaker Studios in Rodriguez, and ran through February 2017. Alita: Battle Angel had its world premiere at London’s Leicester Square Theatre on January 31, 2019 and premiered in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Macau, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan on February 5, 2019, marking the Chinese new era. 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 film produced by Lightstorm Entertainment since Avatar, and the last film released by 20th Century Fox before Disney’s acquisition of 21st Century Fox. The film grossed over $404 million worldwide, making it Rodriguez’ highest-grossing film, but with a reported balance point of $350 to $500 million, there is debate over whether it was profitable. It received generally mixed criticism from critics, who praised Salazar’s performance, action scenes and visual effects, but criticized the script.