Paramount Pictures’ controversial adaptation of popular manga-turned-anime Ghost in the Shell is six months away from being released and producer Avi Arad has shared some more details on what fans can expect.
Arad told Collider the biggest takeaway from the adaptation audiences will see is that it won’t be an origin story. Arad said they wanted to spend more time focusing on how The Major (Scarlett Johansson), a human-cyborg hybrid in charge of a top-tier task force, defines herself by her memories. To do so, Arad said they’re going to ignore the Puppetmaster and Laughing Man, focusing more on the Kuze story and taking much of its influence from Affection in Second Gig.
“Ghost hacking is a big storyline in the movie and in some ways we take it even further,” Arad said. “This idea of if someone could change your memories, what would that do to your sense of self?”
Arad added that they’re taking quite a bit of cues from the second Ghost in the Shell movie, Innocence. The producer said that when sci-fi movies are made, they tend to either focus on a utopian or dystopian setting, and director Rupert Sanders wanted to create something different. Instead of feeling fragile or too good to be true, Ghost in the Shell will create a futuristic society that feels tangible.
“What was interesting about Ghost in the Shell is that it was never really a predictive future,” Arad said. “It was more about a future that was meant to provoke a feeling in the audience and that’s guided design as much as if we were to hire a bunch of engineers and physicists and futurists to predict things. That’s the same kind of philosophy in this movie.”
Arad said they want to stick close to the source material, but are going to pick and choose what elements they want to include in the movie. Focusing on villains and monsters doesn’t make sense for the first film, Arad said, because people don’t have enough of an attachment to The Major for that to be an emotional arc.
Arad also didn’t offer any comment on the criticism the film has received over Johansson’s casting. When it was announced that she would lead the film, the film received backlash for whitewashing the movie, with many critics calling for Johansson to be replaced by a Japanese actor.
Ghost in the Shell is slated to be released March 31, 2017.
Comments
Glad its not an origin story. Innocence and 2nd Gig aren’t my GitS choice of viewing but I’m open. I was wondering how they could capture the prolonged mystery of Laughing Man in the movie so it makes sense to me they would look for a different story.
By musim on 11.02.16 11:38am
Do we really need a GitS live action movie?
By I_Dont_Know_English on 11.02.16 12:25pm
I really can’t see why not. Even though things might not look good for it; it will be a nice eye opener to a lot of people.
GiTs is one of the most influential pieces of science fiction media in the 90s but there are a lot of people that have never seen it or even heard of it. Sometimes that barrier for people’s interest might even just be because it’s an animated movie. If this live action movie is even remotely good they’ve just drummed up a lot of curiosity. Which is a good thing. You’ll have a lot of people going back and checking out the original content. Which then could pique their interest in other classics.
So sure, why not? It’s not like this is a case of simply remaking another live action movie and being redundant. No, this is a live action adaption. The next logical step for the series to go to stay relevant.
By Nepu on 11.02.16 2:01pm
The movie probably is going to be bad , even the anime movie is better than a lot of real action movies I´ve seen lately.
By fravel on 11.02.16 12:44pm
Hmmm it was alright. Wasn’t amazing. I liked it but feel people are putting it on a high pedestal because of nostalgia. Now Akira is amazing.
By CheekyChi on 11.02.16 5:39pm
Hah, as I read your post and got to "putting it on a high pedestal because of nostalgia" I thought "just like Akira."… and then read the rest.
By Necrox on 11.03.16 3:27am
Actually this is based off the last time I saw them – about a year or two ago. The news about the new movie got me interested again.
By CheekyChi on 11.03.16 5:08am
It couldn’t possibly be because people, you know, like different things, right? It has to be nostalgia.
By ReplicantZero on 11.03.16 12:49pm
I’m still up in the air about it. Mostly because the All You Need is Kill live action adaption (Edge of Tomorrow) was actually pretty good.
By Dr. Panda on 11.03.16 9:45pm
The more I hear from the people making this movie, the more surprised I am at just how much it sounds like they understand and embrace the content.
I don’t have a lot of confidence in this movie, but all of the news I’ve seen for it lately, and those teaser trailers gave me something I really didn’t expect… Actual hope that it might be good.
By quickusername on 11.02.16 1:40pm
That’s exactly what i was thinking.
So it now comes down to this: Do they have the talent to pull it off?
By rotane on 11.02.16 2:02pm
I don’t get all the "whitewashing" criticism. Have they ever seen any of the anime? No one looks even halfway Asian (well maybe Nakamura and Saito). Togusa has a mullet for god’s sake!
Something tells me that had they cast a hispanic or black actress, there wouldn’t be an outcry.
I think Johannsen is a bad choice, but not for her race. Alicia Vikander or Morena Baccarin would have been better fits IMHO.
By Boardpusher on 11.02.16 4:49pm
Go watch Under the Skin.
By ReplicantZero on 11.03.16 12:50pm
Really? really. damn. SAC 2nd gig & the second movie "Innocence" were 2 of the most lackluster & boring of anything related to GITS, ever. great.
By Krunchy Ramen on 11.02.16 5:30pm
Woohoo looking forward to this. I want more Scarlet!
By CheekyChi on 11.02.16 5:42pm
I love ScarJo’s work, but I’m too full on white-saturated film to bother. Can only eat the same meal for so long.
By Nite_W on 11.02.16 7:55pm
Fair criticism if you ask me. The only reason I can think for casting Scarlet is to draw folks to the movie. Attach a big name. Makes sense to me, but I still disagree. Should be a Japanese actress playing the Major part, and your never going to convince me otherwise.
By Wh1teLightnin74 on 11.03.16 9:11am
Probably for the first time ever, Avi Arad is saying all the right things.
By ReplicantZero on 11.03.16 12:51pm