Cameron seeks agile actress for ‘Titanic’ follow-up
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – James Cameron is moving forward on his long-awaited follow-up to “Titanic,” with a casting call going out for an agile young actress to star in his sci-fi thriller “Battle Angel.”
The project is in development at 20th Century Fox, which declined comment. But Mali Finn Casting has placed an online ad seeking women aged 16 to mid-20s who are athletic and agile with graceful movement and have an ear for languages and dialects. Submissions are due December 19, the firm said.
“Battle Angel” is described as a big-budget adaptation of a 12-part Japanese manga series set in the 26th century that centers on 14-year-old female cyborg named Alita. Production is scheduled to begin in February.
Cameron has said publicly that he is planning to direct two movies back-to-back using a virtual-reality production process he refined and developed with visual effects cameraman and second unit director Rob Legato. The process is based on a photo-real version of the performance-capture technology used by filmmaker Robert Zemeckis in “The Polar Express.”
“Battle Angel” is the first project to employ the process and is set to come out in summer 2007. The second — known in Cameron circles as “Project 880” — is slated for 2009, the director has said.
Early last month, Fox executives visited a Los Angeles stage set up by Cameron’s company, Lightstorm Entertainment, to view his proof-of-concept. They reviewed the director’s latest digital-production process that includes 3-D high-definition digital-camera systems in a virtual production studio, allowing Cameron to make camera choices, edit, work with computer-generated objects and direct actors on a stage within a virtual environment.
The frame-by-frame production setup allows Cameron to envision the entire film digitally before he shoots actors in live-action, performance-capture material.
Cameron demonstrated a real-world test of the technique on the stage to show the infinite digital production possibilities the system enables. The director had worked to debug and refine the system since early spring to get it to finished quality before demonstrating it to studio executives.
“Titanic,” which came out in 1997, grossed $1.8 billion at the worldwide box office, and won 11 Academy Awards, including best picture and director. Since then, he has directed a few maritime documentaries.
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