New Ghost In The Shell Gets Black Widow As Leading Lady
January 6, 2015 by brennon
Ghost In The Shell is one of the most successful intellectual properties ever to come out of Japan and so it was inevitable that we'd see an adaptation for the silver screen by Western minds. Dreamworks are doing just that and have taken on Scarlett Johansson to star in the film...
The theme of Ghost in the Shell focuses around a group of special operatives who deal with cyber-crime in a variety of guises while also wrestling with the nature of their own cybernetic enhancements and changes. The main character, Motoko Kusanagi, is a cyborg herself who underwent a drastic amount of cyberization.
It's certainly going to be interesting to see where they go with this and how the cast shapes up. A lot of people have already complained about this being a 'White Wash', removing Japanese actors from the equation but we shall see. I don't think a massive budget Ghost in the Shell movie would be even viable without a big name like Johansson behind it.
Also, since it's Dreamworks - surely it's going to be an animation?
Wait and see?
ok this makes me nervous, Ghost in the Shell was one of the first anime i ever saw so if this gets screwed up i’ll not be a happy bunny…
Can’t be any worse than Street Fighter… Or dragonball…
There’s a lot of space between “not worse than Streetfighter” and “good” though 😉
Bull. Dreamworks does Transformers right. That’s live action. They could have used Rinko Kikuchi, who would have been a known name. But no, let’s white wash. Next let’s see them shift the story from Tokyo to the US, because no one (i.e. the US audience) wants a big Hollywood film where the US as fractured and Japan is the leader.
Hollywood doing the same old crap. Where is that Akira film, you know, the one that also was going to whitewash the characters? Oh yeah, dead in the water.
agreed, if I remember correctly even the city in that Akira film
was going to be called Neo New York (@ ,o)
… that’s right … literally means, New New York 😛 ha ha
… on another Akira related trivia,
Tokyo really will be having an olympic stadium built for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics 😛
Just putting this out there, I have no idea who “Rinko Kikuchi” is. Scarlett Johansson on the other hand, I don’t even need to look her up to know she could probably pull off the role.
I think that before getting your knickers all in a twist you should wait and see what Dreamworks has in mind.
No fears from me on the Akira front as far as I know Leonardo DiCaprio owns the rights to the movie. The reason he bought the rights is hes a big fan of the movie and wishes it be done right rather having some bozo Hollywood type making it into a mess.
I am kind of sad anime doesn’t have a larger audience, maybe if it got the recognition it deserves we wouldn’t have to see these remakes.
anyone see the live action fist of the north star movie? nuff said
I’m kind sad that apparently it seems Hollywood thinks that audience members can’t relate to a character who is of a different skin colour, let alone ethnicity, to them.
Its funny you say that, considering quite alot of Anime movie/series draw their characters with western features that aren’t common in Japan, even the ones made and set in Japan.
I’ve always thought it’s the exact opposite, the characters look asian to me,
the only reason they have different coloured hair and eyes is to make each character look a bit different,
because of the style of the faces being generally quite similar in a series,
and the whole big eyes thing is just a design thing,
like 90% of all animation, big eyes = cute, and more easy to convey emotions with,
… anyway, can’t remember the last time I saw a white person with eyes taking up 2 quarters of their face 😛
The first person to use that style (big eyes) is usually credited as Tezuka Osamu, the creator of the old Astro Boy TV series among various other very popular TV shows that became the foundation for Japan’s entire animation and comic industry. As to where Tezuka got the idea, Fred Ladd, who worked with him, has said (as in this Akadot interview) that he said he was emulating Betty Boop, who was popular in Japan at the time, so yes western influence.
yes like I said, 90% of all animation has big eyes, it’s just a design tool, everybody does it 😛
and yes Osamu Tezuka is awesome, especially Black Jack, and his Metropolis adaptation 😉
… although the 90’s Black Jack movies was a bit dark compared to the books,
although there are lots newer series too 🙂
As anime got more popular with Western audience’s the style changed considerably eyes became less angles and sharp and more round same with noses, we studied this during part of art and animation history. Interesting subject though 🙂
Maybe ironic though that Disney have released versions of Studio Ghibli films.
It was taking notice of reviews of Spirited Away that initially piqued my interest in anime.
Arguably this film may do the same for others, or more likely spawn a whole spate of remakes
I would rather just re watch the anime series subbed tbh
Because of Dragonball Evolution I have no trust that Hollywood could handle any live action adaption of animes let alone one as complex as GitS.
Il est certain que S. Johanson fait vendre des places de cinema, mais elle n’est pas de type asiatique, même si elle est magnifique.
Que pensez vous de Mylène Jampanoï, une jeune et jolie actrice française d’origines chinoise, parfaite pour ce rôle…
Certainly S. Johanson is selling cinema tickets, but it’s not Asian type, although it is beautiful.
What do you think Mylène Jampanoï, a pretty young French actress of Chinese origin, perfect for this role …
Everyone once again complaining about “white wash”, what a surprise. I’ll take a line from Johan Hegg of Amon Amarth when he stared in the new Norsemen Saga movie (which was a low budget non-hollywood film) when he heard people complaining that the movie didn’t feature all Scandinavian/Scottish actors and was shot in Africa and not actually in Scotland (where the movie was supposedly taking place) “People are complaining about that? I thought people knew by now how movies are made.” Movie makers get the actors and actresses they believe will bring the role of the character to life as… Read more »
It’s the internet, people jump to conclusions based on what they believe, irrelevant if there is actually a good reason for those decisions.
Are you saying that there exist NO Japanese (Or other asian at least) actress who are capable of doing the role.
Here I thought Hollywood made movies to make money. 😛
Hence the American setting, since American refuse to see movies set outside their own backyard. (At least according to the surveys they use)
Hence Scarlett Johansson, who is one of the biggest names right now and thereby WILL sell tickets by having her name on the poster alone.
It has nothing to do with acting skill
Let’s see how much of the otherwise quite diverse cast gets switched out.
“Movie makers get the actors and actresses they believe will bring in most box office receipts”
This comment has been auto adjusted by Google Veritas
I want to know why they haven’t given the role to a cyborg. I won’t bang on about location, as it is well known that films are often not shot in the country in which the story is set. New Zealand substituting well for Middle Earth springs to mind. However there is something to be said for retaining something of the spirit of the anime series which is Japanese. Those making a point of the casts’ ethnicity are GITS fans, and likely to be sensitive over the handling of a remake. People have a right not to like what Hollywood… Read more »
I thought what I would do is pretend I was one of those deaf mutes….
I love the Major and I love Scarlett Johansson so this makes me happy yeah a whole Asian cast would have been fine but at the same time it doesn’t deter me from giving it a shot. If they mess this up though I will cry myself to sleep….forever.
The cast of Ghost in the shell is actually quite diverse in terms of nationality
As I recall only about half of the main characters are Asian
hmmm … as a fan of this series since 95, I’m in 2 minds about this news, … on one hand, it irritates me that they can’t just go looking for a good asian actress, preferably with some fight experience, ( and even if they don’t go full japanese, at least the gesture would be appreciated by people ) and on the other hand I’m aware they need a name actress to even get this greenlit, and if they’re going to whitewash it anyway, at least scarlet has some proven experience, … but whether she can pull off the majors… Read more »
I’ll keep an open mind and give this a go.
I have never read the original source material, but I enjoyed both the movies and both the Stand Alone Complex series (I haven’t seen Arise yet, but I mean to soon), so here’s hoping Dreamworks can do justice to one of the most important and influencial anime properties of all time.
Blueeerggghhhhh!!!
heres the one we all really want to see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1GO-93Nt3c
Erm, about the white wash argument and comments above… Ok so this is a remake of an asian/oriental film by non-asian/oriental. So quick spot-check when Bollywood the leading film maker in the world (compare there output to Hollywood) remakes a Hollywood or European film, anyone up in arms about the lack of caucasian actors…. didn’t think so. Why are they free to continue blatant black wash? Now I don’t know the demographics of American and I appreciate there is genuine social problems about race relations in America far worse than in UK. If you feel that you will not watch… Read more »
YAY! ANOTHER REMAKE OF A MOVIE TWENTY YEARS OLD! Boy can i not contain my excitment for seeing the same story told to me again. Can I have Madagascar 7 and Hobbit 5 with it? Will the movie feature online microtransactions to continue the action or skip scenes? Seriously, I was just as taken as everyone was when I first saw Ghost, but come on, it’s been twenty years of constant rehashing and the manga’s author is now in business of drawing porn with horses in it, how about something *new* in the genre of cyberpunk? Perhaps not so horribly… Read more »
a (matrix bladerunner) film may be good, i liked the original film.
£10 she won’t strip naked to turn invisible. Another £10 it will get a 12A rating.
Honestly, what’s the point of redoing this?
First of all, the original movie has aged with graze and can still stand on its own two legs. If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it…
Secondly, considering the amount of CGI they’re going to need to pull this off, why go live-action in the first place?
IMHO she would be a terrible choice of actress for Commander Kusanagi and it should never be turned into a movie anyway
Can’t help being reminded of Stalone’s Judge Dredd
I’ve been surprised by casting choices before, so I am willing to give it a go. My fear is the amount of CG that will be used. I prefer models and miniatures.
Is there really any difference between making a westernised version of a Japanese cartoon and, say, remaking the Seven Samurai or Yojimbo as Westerns? The Seven Samurai is a fabulous film, as is The Magnificent Seven. I also don’t remember anyone claiming racism when Akira Kurosawa removed all the white people from Macbeth and King Lear when he made Throne of Blood and Ran. Taking a story and reimagining it in a different setting is a time honoured tradition in the theatre as well as movies. “White washing” is a legitimate problem in Hollywood but it’s more about, for example,… Read more »
Its strange that this is happening. The making of this movie that is. The other day I made a comment to a co worker and asked when does he think Hollywood will make a Thundercats movie. He laughed and said well we are the movie demographic audience so almost everything of our youth will be tapped at some point. This is just a case of nostalgia money making. I care not for them as very few live action remakes of my childhood shows, cartoons and movies appeal to me.