Cameron resurfaces

Directing the most commercially successful movie of all time might be a hard act to follow but was that really enough reason for Titanic lenser Jim Cameron to shy away from features for eight years?

Sure, we get the occasional deep-seas documentary and the 51 year old even shot an episode of Dark Angel, the action sci-fi show he produces - but nothing on the cinematic front.

We can reveal that the wait is over folks, as we hear that Cameron is slipping back behind the camera to bring a big-budget Manga adaptation to the big screen.

Battle Angel is set in the 26th century, 300 years after a war has left society as we know it in ruins. The tale revolves around a 14 year old female cyborg named Alita who is found on a scrapheap by a scientist. He takes her in and treats her like a daughter.

Producers 20th Century Fox declined to comment on the development of the flick or Cameron's involvement. However open casting has already begun to find the actress to fill the lead role.

Cameron has already stated that in the future he is planning to use a new production process utilising virtual-reality which he and visual effects wizard Rob Legato developed. The fancy film technique allows Jim to work with actors and CG objects within a virtual environment on set, shot by digital camera systems in a virtual production studio. In a nutshell, Jimbo can view the whole movie digitally before he shoots a single live-action scene with an actor... guess he hasn't just been larking about in the ocean then.