Ghost In The Shell is one of the most well-known anime cartoons ever made, on par with Akira and the works of Studio Ghibli.
The story focuses on a special task force called Section 9 that faces off against the world's most dangerous cyber criminals and hackers, through the use of VR technology and cybernetic implants. However, the live-action remake has been controversial for its white-washing of main characters, specifically Scarlett Johansson who is set to play Maj. Motoko Kusanagi - known in the film simply as The Major.
The film was originally at Disney before it was moved to Paramount, due to a distribution deal between DreamWorks, Disney and Paramount Studios that ended last month. Since then, the film's more or less gone quiet - until now.
Late last night, five separate teasers were released online giving us our first look at Rupert Sanders' adaptation.
Take a look.
Despite the claims of white-washing, it's interesting to note that fans of the anime series from Japan weren't even expecting an Asian actor to take the lead role of Major Kusanagi. Sam Yoshiba, the director of publishing company Kodansha will owns the rights to Ghost In The Shell, said that Scarlett Johansson was "well cast."
"She has the cyberpunk feel. And we never imagined it would be a Japanese actress in the first place... This is a chance for a Japanese property to be seen around the world."
So, thoughts? Leaving aside all of that, it definitely looks very slick and Rupert Sanders does have an exceptionally good eye for aesthetic, so this could be really interesting. Not only that, there's a pretty decent cast lined up behind this, which includes Michael Pitt, Juliette Binoche, Takeshi Kitano, Rila Fukushima, Kaori Momoi, Pilou Asbæk, and Yutaka Izumihara - so here's hoping it works out because Ghost In The Shell was pretty damn cool.
The film is set for release on March 31st, 2017.
