AceShowbiz -

"Alita: Battle Angel" casts Keean Johnson as the love interest of the titular female cyborg. The "Nashville" actor will take the highly-coveted role opposite Rosa Salazar, who will portray Alita in James Cameron's sci-fi movie scheduled to hit U.S. theaters on July 20, 2018.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Johnson will play Hugo in the Fox adaptation of Yukito Kishiro's popular manga series. Hugo is a young man who teaches Alita how to play a gladiator-style game called Motorball. He also has a secret side job stealing robot parts.

Christoph Waltz is already on board to portray Dr. Dyson Ido. Meanwhile, Jackie Earle Haley is expected to take a villainous role as a monstrous cyborg. As for Ed Skrein, he is set to play a character named Zapan. Robert Rodriguez will direct the movie from a script co-written by Cameron and Laeta Kalogridis.

Set in the 26th century, "Alita: Battle Angel" follows the titular female cyborg who is rescued from a scrapyard by a doctor. With no memory of her previous life except her deadly martial-arts training, the rebuilt Alita becomes a hunter-warrior, tracking down and eliminating vicious criminals.

Johnson beats out several actors, including "Tut" star Avan Jogia, Douglas Booth ("Jupiter Ascending"), Jack Lowden ("Dunkirk") and "Tyrant" star Noah Silver, for the role of Hugo. The 19-year-old actor was last seen in family drama "Heritage Falls" alongside David Keith.