Well then, this could be big.
DreamWorks has landed quite the big name for the lead role in their live action adaptation of the cyberpunk manga/anime darling Ghost in the Shell. None other than Black Widow herself, Scarlett Johansson.
As Variety puts it, the story follows the exploits of a member of a covert ops unit of the Japanese National Public Safety Commission that specializes in fighting technology-related crime. The main character is a Major in this division.
Rupert Sanders, who most recently directed Snow White and the Huntsman has the director’s chair, Bill Wheeler is writing the script and Avi Arad and Steven Paul are producing.
I have one reservation about this development. We have already seen Scarlett crush it in both the intelligent/emotional side and the spectacular/action side of the sci-fi spectrum in the last year. (Her in the former and Lucy in the latter). I’m just a little concerned that Scarlett in another role about blurring the boundaries between humanity and technology is going to feel a bit too familiar.
On the other hand, Ghost in the Shell’s particular aesthetic of cyberpunk techno-weirdness doesn’t make it to the big screen all that often. Hopefully, DreamWorks will be able to make the live action film just as thematically and visually thrilling as original manga was, and make it feel fresh.