As Robert Rodriguez gears up to finally realise James Cameron's long-planned vision of adapting manga Battle Angel Alita for the big screen as Alita: Battle Angel, he's added a new actor the cast. Jackie Earle Haley is the latest recruit for the planned sci-fi epic.
Battle Angel is based on Yukito Kishiro's nine-volume manga (known as "Gun/Dream" in Japan): the story of an amnesiac female cyborg who becomes a bounty hunter, after being rescued from the rubbish dump and rebuilt by a professor of cybernetics (Christoph Waltz).
Rosa Salazar has scored the title role, but details on Earle's involvement are, according to The Hollywood Reporter, scarce. However, the trade mag's sources point to him playing a monstrous cyborg villain requiring considerable effects work. And we can certainly see the actor bringing his trademark intensity to a nasty piece of work.
Rodriguez should be starting to roll the cameras next month in Austin. Haley was last see on Preacher and is the main baddie in the new Tick pilot on Amazon. He'll next show up in controversial slavery drama Birth Of A Nation (due January 20) and has a role in The Dark Tower, which opens on February 17.