James Cameron and Robert Rodriguez take a detour into the uncanny valley with the first trailer for Alita: Battle Angel, the long-promised live-action adaptation of Yukito Kishiro's popular cyberpunk manga.

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The story centers on a female cyborg discovered in a garbage heap by a scientist. With no memory of her previous life, except for her deadly martial-arts skills, she becomes a bounty hunter, tracking down criminals.

Cameron attempted to get the adaptation off the ground for more than 15 years, saying in 2012 he hoped to turn to the project once he completed the long-promised sequels to Avatar. But in 2015 Cameron brought aboard Rodriguez (Sin City, From Dusk till Dawn) as director.

"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,” Cameron said at the time. “He's very collaborative and we're already like two kids building a go-kart, just having fun riffing creatively and technically. 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."

Starring Rosa Salazar, Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly, Mahershala Ali, Ed Skrein, Jackie Earle Haley and Keean Johnson, Alita: Battle Angel arrives in theaters July 20, 2018.