A new clip and music video forAlita: Battle Angelhave arrived online. 20th Century Fox has a lot invested in this massive-scale, ambitious blockbuster, which hails from director Robert Rodriguez (Sin City,Spy Kids) and is a project that James Cameron, who serves as a producer and writer, has had gestating for a long time. Now, with the release date just a few weeks away, the studio has ramped up the marketing campaign and that includes a new music video from Dua Lipa.
Grammy-nominee Dua Lipa, whose previous hits includeKiss and Make Upas well asIDGAF, has produced a new track titledSwan Song, which will appear on the movie’s soundtrack. The video wasdirected by Floria Sigismondiand is set squarely within the universe thatAlita: Battle Angeltakes place in. The pop star is thrown into the streets of Iron City, which looks epic in scale, despite its post-apocalyptic feel. There are also little bits and pieces of actual footage from the movie thrown in for good measure.
The clip sees our titular character sitting up awake at night in bed, trying to reconcile her complicated past with her current life. There is some vague and foreshadowing voiceover provided by Christoph Waltz before we get to the meat of the clip, which seesAlita practicing some of her fighting movesin the mirror. The main thing here is seeing an extended sequence of this CGI character that we’re set to follow in this blockbuster, as opposed to just brief clips. The character’s manga-inspired look, big eyes and all, really stand out and it’s been hard not to wonder if it will be distracting within the framework of the movie itself. At least in this brief clip, it works.
Newcomer Rosa Salazarhas been tapped to play Alita, with a cast that also includes Jennifer Connelly, Ed Skrein, Jackie Earle Haley, Keenan Johnson and Oscar-winner Mahershala Ali. It’s based on the manga seriesGunnm, or Battle Angel Alita (which was changed up a bit for the movie) by Yukito Kishiro. The adaptation was penned by James Cameron, Laeta Kalogridis and Robert Rodriguez. This will also be significant as it’s one of the final movies being released by Fox before the Disney merger is completed.
It’s also crucial that this movie is received well, as it reportedly carries an incredibly steep $200 million production budget. While full reviews haven’t yet been released, several critics who have screened the movie have reacted very positively on social media. We’ll have to see if this winds up being an early 2019 blockbuster surprise, or a potentially misguided franchise attempt, alaMortal Engines.Alita: Battle Angelis set to hit theaters on February 14. Be sure to check out the new music video from Dua Lipa, as well as the clip from the20th Century Fox YouTubechannel below.
