Hollywood looks to finally give Ghost in the Shell, a Japanese anime often cited as one of the best of the genre, the live-action treatment. According to Variety, Scarlett Johansson has agreed to play the lead in the film should it be greenlit by Dreamworks Studios. Margot Robbie was originally in the running, but she is now committed to DC’s adaptation of Suicide Squad.
Ghost in the Shell was originally a Japanese manga before it was turned into the 1995 hit anime film. It was one of the many inspirations for The Matrix, and should pack a similar philosophical punch and plenty of action like the American classic.
While it is great to finally see a live adaptation of the anime, the casting is questionable. The star of the anime is named Motoko and does not look white, so it is baffling that a white actress like Johansson could be chosen for the lead. After the recent backlash of Exodus, you would think that Hollywood’s days of whitewashing are over. But it seems like money still comes before political correctness, and with The Hollywood Reporter saying Johansson is being offered $10 million for the role, it would be silly of her to turn it down.
We will give Johansson the benefit of the doubt, but find it troubling that Dreamworks did not cast a Japanese actress for the lead. Or at least somebody who is Asian. Anyone who remembers M. Night Shyamalan’s The Last Airbender knows that this could be a very bad thing.
Rupert Sanders, director of Snow White and the Huntsmen, has also been attached to the film.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uMNtOQOaLU&w=560&h=315%5D
Scarlett Johansson To Star In Whitewashed Version Of Popular Anime, ‘Ghost In The Shell’ was originally published on theurbandaily.com
