Twentieth Century Fox 's Alita: Battle Angel made its presence known at Anime Expo 2019 in Los Angeles in three major ways. The entertainment company sponsored this year's Manga Lounge, bringing props from the film for fans to browse while reading the original manga.

An exclusive Alita: Battle Angel cosplay meet and greet took place in the lounge on Saturday. Attendees brought their A-game to the meet-up, looking ready to take on nefarious cyborgs in Iron City.

Outside, a mural by artist Cloe Hakakian and non-profit organization, Beautify Earth, towered across the street from the Los Angeles Convention Center. Hakakian blended her own style with the live-action film and Yukito Kishiro 's original manga to create the perfect photo opp for fans. The mural incorporated a Facebook -enabled AR lens to bring special feature content from the home release to Anime Expo attendees' smartphones.

Alita: Battle Angel — James Cameron and Robert Rodriguez 's live-action film of Yukito Kishiro 's Battle Angel Alita ( GUNNM ) manga — earned over US$400 million worldwide after opening in early February in the U.K. and in several countries in Asia before its U.S. debut on February 14. The film then opened in Japan on February 22 and ranked at #2 at the box office there.

The movie stars Rosa Salazar ( Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials, The Divergent Series: Insurgent, Man Seeking Woman ) in motion capture as Alita. Robert Rodriguez ( El Mariachi, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Sin City, Spy Kids ) directed the film. James Cameron and his Lightstorm Entertainment partner Jon Landau produced the project, and Shutter Island's Laeta Kalogridis penned a script.