Jennifer Connelly Joins Robert Rodriguez’s ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Oscar winner Jennifer Connelly has officially joined the cast of Robert Rodriguez's Alita: Battle Angel, currently filming in Austin, TX. Connelly joins the already-cast Christoph Waltz, Mahershala Ali, Ed Skrein, and - in the titular role - Rosa Salazar. THR's report doesn't name Connelly's character, but notes that she'll be playing a villain in the film. 

Say what you will about Robert Rodriguez, and by all means say what you will about anime, but credit where credit's due: this thing's shaping up to have one helluva cast. Combined with the fact that James Cameron is executive producing the project, one is almost tempted to start getting excited about Alita: Battle Angel. Almost.

Here's THR's plot synopsis, for the uninitiated:

Set in the 26th century, Alita tells of a female cyborg (Salazar) that is discovered in a scrapyard by a scientist. With no memory of her previous life except her deadly martial-arts training, the woman becomes a bounty hunter, tracking down criminals. The action-adventure story is meant to serve as a backdrop to themes of self-discovery and the search for love.

Hey, Birth.Movies.Death. readers who are familiar with this property (and anime in general): where does Alita: Battle Angel rank against, say, Ghost In The Shell? Some of us have been toying with the idea of giving one or both of these movies a whirl in advance of their live action remakes, and we need to know which one oughtta be the priority. 

Stay tuned for more on Alita: Battle Angel as it becomes available.