Scarlett Johansson to take on Ghost in the Shell

[Her]

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In the crammed, hyper-connected near-future of Ghost in the Shell, the heroine is an implacable anti-terrorist cyborg who, between stealthy infiltrations and deafening gunfights, finds room in her over-clocked consciousness to contemplate the nature of her existence. Is Major Motoko Kusanagi anything other than a lethal instrument of the Japanese government? Could her childhood memories simply be Blade Runneresque implants? With her extreme body and brain modifications, is she even human?

Now that Scarlett Johansson has signed up to star as the lead in a live-action Ghost in the Shell adaptation from UK director Rupert Sanders and DreamWorks, other questions of identity have been raised. Primarily: should an American actress be cast in what is clearly a Japanese part? Or is it insulting to Masamune Shirow's original manga series, another instance of Hollywood valuing star power over authenticity? At this stage, it's unclear whether any Asian actresses were even given the opportunity to audition for the part.

It's not the first time Hollywood has been condemned for whitewashing when it comes to casting, especially as producers have grappled with adapting manga-inspired properties. When hugely popular television series Avatar and Dragonball Z recently made their awkward transitions to the big screen – as The Last Airbender and Dragonball Evolution, respectively – they were widely criticised for casting non-Asians in heroic roles. (They were also widely criticised for being terrible movies.)

so
what do you guys think about this fifth horseman of the apocalypse

 

[Weeaboo Name]

Was terrible when it was announced and is still terrible now.

 

[Skip Class]

As much as I love live actions, I don't have much faith in American studios to adapt anime. In most cases of anime to live action I would say, don't compare The Last Avatar and Dragonball Evolution's terrible adaptations, but since this is an American studio, I kinda have to...

 

[pkmin3033]

...wait, they were serious about this?

Scarlett Johansson has been doing pretty well for herself recently, but I can't see her pulling this off. Nor can I see the script being even halfway decent. Chances are I will go and see it when it's released, because I love Ghost in the Shell, but I'm going in with very low expectations. This will probably be just another Scarlett Johansson movie that just happens to share its name with a very good series.

 

[Claudaine]

I really like Scarlett Johansson as an actress - adored her in Lucy.... although I know some people.... okay, a lot of people had reservations concerning that film - and I'm willing to give this adaption a chance. I do think it's ridiculous that a Japanese actress wasn't chosen for the role but... I don't think that automatically means that it will be a bad film.

As Zeria has said, it will probably be another Scarlett Johansson movie that shares it's name with an amazing series. And that is probably what will sell it to the general market :C

 

[anniellewellyn]

I like Scarlett Johansson as an actress as well (also liked Lucy, for all it's problems), but I'm not really thrilled with this casting. Didn't really expect anything different, though... Maybe I can finally convince my BF to watch Ghost in the Shell with me, though, which would be awesome.

 

[Satoshi Ookami]

>American adaptation of anime
That itself is an apocalypse.

 

[derozio]

I'm not expecting big things from the movie itself but I think she is pretty sexy and I don't really see a lot of problems with it. :p

 

[Weeaboo Name]

They won't give her purple pubes, it is a waste of time.

 

[Masterge77]

I don't have a problem with Scarlett Johansson being cast because I think she is a great actress who would fit the role of Mokoto Kusanagi well given all the other roles Scarlett has been in (Black Widow comes to mind). The problem stems from not only Hollywood's track record with adapting animated works into live-action, but because the characters and setting of the Ghost in the Shell franchise are Japanese, which is a problem given how Hollywood loves to whitewash their films and seem to be against any diversity in their films asides from people who are white or African-American, and Asian-American roles, since Asian-Americans tend to be underutilized in Hollywood films. Even then, there have been cases of Chinese-American and Korean-American actors cast as different Asian races because apparently, all Asians look the same to Hollywood.

Doesn't anyone remember the LAST time Hollywood whitewashed an adaptation of a series with mostly non-European characters with M. Night Shyamalan's The Last Airbender, and the controversy that sparked? Even though Scarlett can just dye her hair purple, and can argue against the casting of a non-Asian actress as an Asian character since Mokoto Kusanagi is a vaguely human-looking cyborg, it's already become controversial among both nerds and activist groups, even those who never seen the original source material, even though filming hasn't even begun.

 

[Netto Azure]

I have no faith in Western Live Actions.

 

[probono]

i'm sure it'll be good

Spoiler:

ha

 

[GhostTrainer]

I plan on seeing it. I hope it's not going to be a monstrosity like the live action Avatar TLAB or Dragon Ball Evolution, however this isn't to say that I have high expectations for this movie, because I don't. American adaptation of anime typically has had horrible outcomes.

I hope they do the series good with this, but I doubt that will happen.