The idea of staffing a Ghost In The Shell remake with Western faces may stick in some throats but Scarlett Johansson’s presence will definitely take the gospel of Masamune Shirow and his fellow manga writers to fertile new terrain. Here she is, bewigged and ready to unleash hell, in a first look from the film.
A special ops cyborg, Johansson’s character is head of an elite task force known as Section 9. The team, working for Hanka Robotics, is in charge of stopping dangerous criminals and extremists, and their prime target is The Laughing Man, a terrorist dedicated to wiping out all of Hanka’s cyber technology.
Johansson’s Lucy co-star Pilou Asbæk is aboard to play Batou, the second best fighter in the section and her trusted lieutenant, with Juliette Binoche, 'Beat' Takeshi Kitano, Michael Pitt and Kaori Momoi also appearing. The members of Section 9 are played by Chin Han, Danusia Samal, Lasarus Ratuere, Yutaka Izumihara and Tuwanda Manyimo.
Ghost In The Shell has just started shooting in Wellington, New Zealand, with Rupert Sanders behind the camera and Jonathan Herman providing the script. It’ll get its US release on March 31, 2017.
For more on the movie, scan our guide to the manga and its various anime adaptations.