Robert Rodriguez To Direct Long-Gestating James Cameron Project ‘Alita: Battle Angel,’ Cameron Producing

Robert RodriguezThis is slightly freaky. Just yesterday I was commenting to a friend that I’d rather James Cameron, who is one of the best in the biz at putting expensive spectacle on the big screen, do anything other than three more "Avatar" movies. He’s had a lot of interesting movies cross his plate over the years, and one fans have been clamoring for is his adaptation of Yukito Kishiro‘s "Alita: Battle Angel." But, the reins have been passed to a rather unlikely successor.

Robert Rodriguez, who has spent a good chunk of the past several years showing how cheaply he can use green screens to make movies, will now direct the flick, with Cameron remaining on board as producer. However, rest assured that Cameron’s imprint will be on this project. He’s not only staying on as a producer (a role he has almost never designated to something he’s not intimately involved with), the project will also use his script.

To recap, the movie will tell the story of a female cyborg, who is rescued from a scrapyard, and trained to become a warrior, finding love and adventure along the way. At the least that’s the way the studio is describing the project, but those who have read the original text can tell me if it has more teeth.

“Robert and I have been looking for a film to do together for years, so I was pumped when he said he wanted to do ‘Battle Angel.’ He’s very collaborative and we’re already like two kids building a go-kart, just having fun riffing creatively and technically," Cameron said in a statement. "This project is near and dear to me, and there’s nobody I trust more than Robert, with his technical virtuosity and rebel style, to take over the directing reins. We’re looking forward to learning a lot from each other while we make a kick-ass epic.”

No word yet on when production begins, but it’ll be interesting to see Cameron’s vision translated through Rodriguez’s more down and dirty sensibilities. [Deadline]