Your thoughts on the Ghost in the Shell adaptation?

[sai 868]

So apparently it's really happening this time, Ghost in the Shell is getting a US live-action movie. DreamWorks is still the one developing it and Rupert Sanders (Snow White and the Huntsman) is going to be the lead director (urgh).

 

It's also pretty certain actress Margot Robbie is going to take the role of Major Motoko Kusanagi.

 

Source: http://collider.com/ghost-in-the-shell-margot-robbie/

 

Idk how to feel about these choices. Snow White and the Huntsman was terrible and I was hoping they'd cast an older actress (in their 30s) for the role instead of a 24-year old. Literally America has never done adaption of an anime right so I'm fearful for this is going to turn out.

 

I'm also curious what they're going to do if they decide to cast white people for all the main roles. Do they keep the original names, or will they localize them? It'd be kind of odd to have so many white people with Japanese names running around, lmao.

[doombox 4421]

They were going to white-wash Akira so I won't be surprised if they try to do it here too. I already don't like this lead actress. I do however like the director and Snow White and The Huntsman (I just suffered from the same problem of hating his lead actress, maybe he can try to keep his hands off this one?). So I guess I'll wait to see who the rest of the line up is and if they're trying to move the setting out of Japan, ect. If they do I won't even bother with this. GitS is my favorite Anime series ever and any live action would scare me but seeing Margot Robbie as the lead where there are like 100 better options makes me disappointed already.

[Zeus 7997]

This is going to go as well as that Dragonball: Evolution movie nobody talks about where Goku was white and went to school and met Chi-Chi. Or that time Avatar: The Last Airbender got a movie and all the good Asians were white, all of the bad Asians are black, and 90% of the budget went to the CGI. Or that time they were in talks to butcher the classic Akira and the only people they considered for the roles of Tetsuo and Kaneda were white people. You know what all three of these had in common? Some white guy in America saw that something un-American actually had fans, and then they co-opted the name and cannibalized the source material so much there's no connection between the original and the final product. Even Speed Racer wasn't a straight adaptation and they still whitewashed the main character.

 

This isn't a race thing, but it's totally a race thing. We're talking about an anime that takes place in near-future Japan after the advent of mechanization and nobody gets the bright idea that it would be a good idea to hire an Asian actor to play an Asian character? She doesn't even have to be Japanese if they can't find a suitable actress in that nationality. The fact that they're changing the character so much before things even get started is proof that nobody is taking the source material seriously and that the movie is going to become a generic Die Hard clone. If someone cares enough to keep the philosophical motif of what makes humans human in the final script I might choke on my coffee.

 

I propose we get purple hair dye and cast Arithmetica as Motoko Kusanagi. This is the only deal I will accept.

 

And that director? No. Ghost in the Shell is a dark, gritty franchise. Sanders' last attempt at adaptation started well and ended up disintegrating before the movie got anywhere. Absolute junk and the editing was terrible too. If you want to stay true to the thematic feel of the original, hire Christopher Nolan instead. He would have been my first option. Or get the Wachovski brothers to do it. The Matrix took a ton of influence from Ghost in the Shell and they'd get the gritty cyberpunk feel right. I'd even take James Cameron or Ridley Scott before this guy. Why anyone thought to give an unknown director creative freedom over a movie adaptation of one of the most - if not the most - influential anime of the last two decades blows my fucking mind.

It's as if no one takes anime as an entertainment vector seriously. This is going to be dead on arrival to all five dollar discount bins everywhere. I don't see how this is going to be in the movies longer than a week.

[CAT5 9075]

[sai 868]

I'm mostly pissed off because of the white-washing of Motoko Kusanagi before the thing even went into production. It annoys me because GITS takes place in future Japan and the fact probably the entire main cast is going to be played by white people and take place in America is a huge insult to the entire franchise because it takes away a big part of what it is. NOT EVERYTHING NEEDS TO TAKE PLACE IN AMERICA. I agree with Zess that this is probably going to be a huge action-packed rip off of Die Hard without any of the cyberpunk feeling to it.

[RoseOfHizaki 131]

dis gon flop

[Flame-X 441]

Literally America has never done adaption of an anime right so I'm fearful for this is going to turn out.

 

I suppose you haven't seen Edge of Tomorrow which is adapted from All You Need is Kill.

[Original Saku 1593]

Live action Ghost in the Shell? Awesome! Live action Ghost in the Shell done by Hollywood (America)? Fuck that! Immediately disappointed....

 

Like seriously why doesn't Japan just make it instead? Why the fuck does it have to be done by America? This is gonna blow so much.

[doombox 4421]

And that director? No. Ghost in the Shell is a dark, gritty franchise. Sanders' last attempt at adaptation started well and ended up disintegrating before the movie got anywhere. Absolute junk and the editing was terrible too. If you want to stay true to the thematic feel of the original, hire Christopher Nolan instead. He would have been my first option. Or get the Wachovski brothers to do it. The Matrix took a ton of influence from Ghost in the Shell and they'd get the gritty cyberpunk feel right. I'd even take James Cameron or Ridley Scott before this guy. Why anyone thought to give an unknown director creative freedom over a movie adaptation of one of the most - if not the most - influential anime of the last two decades blows my fucking mind.

It's as if no one takes anime as an entertainment vector seriously. This is going to be dead on arrival to all five dollar discount bins everywhere. I don't see how this is going to be in the movies longer than a week.

I agree, there is a laundry list of better directors for this type of film concerning what the fans of the series want to see. But Sanders got better numbers on Snow White's opening weekend than Batman Begins or The Matrix and in 2 years is still outselling both in long term sales. And we all know what Hollywood responds too when it comes down to it. They're looking for a director to make it approachable and marketable to the "typical" American viewer. They give a rat's ass if it's an influential anime or not. They just want to know if it'll make them money.

 

Either way, regardless of director I don't have many high hopes for Hollywood doing it any justice, and over all I agree with you. It's probably gonna bomb.

[Tetora 625]

Well, I am guessing they are basing it on the movie, not the manga, and the movie was set in a Sector-based area modeled on Hong Kong, not Japan.

I am sure they can either put the setting back to Japan, or keep it HK, or even places likes Shanghai or Beijing which can be done to still keep a similar feeling if done right... They could even take the material and move it to America, and change the setting completely and pull it off, albeit in a drastic way, but all of these options take far more creative and imaginative powers than I would trust in pretty much any production company or director / team.

Also, even Japan itself and great anime or live action directors often can`t produce anything that holds a candle to the original anime or manga, especially if they try to be faithful. Some of the best adaptions came a little out of left field with stuff like Oldboy, Edge of Tomorrow, etc...

But for directors, even though I too think this movie will stink...

Ridley Scott is great, or at least I think he used to be great. Blade Runner etc... And I wish in this age we still had movies with real effects done creatively, not all CGI.

Coen Brothers. They never did anything like this, but they have a mind and creativity that can understand a work and why it`s good in the first place. They wont look at GiTS and think: `oh, futuristic setting, kung fu strong woman, cyborgs, guns and DEEP philosophy`. they will see the real details and the charm of it.

Sam Raimi. Would definitely make it goofier, but one of the most creative when it comes to using effects, creating worlds, and finding ways to do things including effects and action, without just pushing the CGI button.

Kim Ji Woon. If he keeps it serious, and focuses on visual storytelling with progressive dialogue, like in A Bittersweet Life, I think he might be able to do it.

Anyway, those are some names I am just throwing out there.

To be honest, it may seem negative, but because of how much I love GiTS I hope the movie never gets made, or it quickly disappears like the Oldboy remake, and I never have to hear about it. There were always rumours of James Cameron thinking of an Eva live-action. That`s also something I never want to see, although he is a much more capable director than some of the ones out there doing anime remakes or in the talks to do them...

Also just did some quick reading on the GiTS original movie. One issue the director had was with the producers pushing him to put less emphasis on the philosophy, and more on the action to sell the movie, which he fought. I think that will be a big issue with a remake, anywhere in the world, the director will be pressured to make it Cyborg Matrix Reloaded.

As you may know, the director of the original film has been making the upcoming live-action `The Last Druid` set out next year I think. If anything, I would love to see him do GiTS it if it had to be made. I met with him when he was in my city making part of it. It is an English film, but he was surrounded by all sorts of professional otaku in his entourage, like the Sci-Fi otaku who was making up all his mecha designs. They made a big deal out of the models they made of different things, and seemed to really keep the hands-on feel which I like, and although the movie will be English, kept it very anime inspired and driven in production terms.

But then again, many of us are anime and Japanese pop-culture fans, and the movie will be made for a bigger audience, so it is up to the producers and director etc. to decide if they really care about us, the fanbase, and the original material. Maybe if they want less of an outlash against the works they could also just make the movie under a different name but rip off all the ideas and never give anyone credit like many other directors have been doing for a while now.

[sai 868]

Actually they announced the movie would follow the manga...

[Bear 1817]

I'm surprised to see people wanting Christopher Nolan for a project like this. If there's one director in the whole wide world I would not see involved in a project like this it's him, Chistopher Nolan. He'd bring his pseudo-dark and and "deep", shitty style to the film and make yet another film with no identity or feeling, just like everything else he's done for the past 6-8 years. He's just another promising director who turned shit as soon as he got the chance to work with big budgets and even bigger stars. Just another director happy to compromise the hell out of a project just so that he can make something big and throw lots of $$$ right and left.

 

 

Anyway, I doubt anyone could make a good GitS film. I think GitS as a project would demand way too much from the director and the others behind the film. SUre, someone might make a good action/sci-fi film from it, but not a good GitS film.

[RoseOfHizaki 131]

Chow Yun Fat needs to direct this.....

[Zeus 7997]

http://www.superherohype.com/news/319189-scarlett-johansson-offered-ghost-in-the-shell

 

Slightly better, but still not Asian. Rila Fukushima would be perfect for this role.

 

[Flame-X 441]

Guys, let's just wait & see how the movie will turn out rather than going in with preconceived notions.

[Bear 1817]

I can't stand Scarlet Johansson. One of the worst out of the bigger actresses and actors during my lifetime.

[Ito 2438]

I just can't imagine this going well. I really hope I am wrong...but man...

NOT EVERYTHING NEEDS TO TAKE PLACE IN AMERICA.

Not that I am trying to justify this because really, I hate this too, but I wonder what percentage of anime takes place in Japan. I would be willing to bet that it is around 95%.

[Flame-X 441]

It really depends on the show/movie it's adapted from. Shows like Ghost in the Shell isn't so culturally Japanese centric if you know what I mean, so therefor I think it could work as a movie taken place in America. Sure, white washing is a common issue, but in this case though, the Major can be anyone since she's just a brain.

[Zeus 7997]

It really depends on the show/movie it's adapted from. Shows like Ghost in the Shell isn't so culturally Japanese centric if you know what I mean, so therefor I think it could work as a movie taken place in America. Sure, white washing is a common issue, but in this case though, the Major can be anyone since she's just a brain.

I can't look at Scarlet Johansson in a role where her character's name is Motoko Kusanagi, unless they always call her "The Major". Which is just stupid. My suspension of disbelief only goes so far. If GitS got the whitewash treatment, how many people on the main cast are going to get whitewashed and have awkward character roles and possibly badly mangled names in an attempt to sound more "American"? Would everyone they deal with be Asian and have their names changed, or are we going to do a "Wolverine" and have the main character be white and everyone else be Asian?

How do you deal with keeping the thematic content and artistic tone of Ghost in the Shell if you change it's location? That's changing the story!

[Flame-X 441]

How does changing the location change the story when it's about a police division cracking down hackers in a cyberpunk world? Practically any location could work as long as it's in an urban area. Yes, they'll have to name change the cast in order to appeal the mainstream audience but you know what, if the movie feels like a Ghost in the Shell then that's all it matters (to me at least). If you don't like the idea of Hollywood adapting this, that's fine. Just stick with the anime. Besides, it probably never was meant for anime fans anyways. Either way, it's rather unfair to immediately judge this when they're still on planning stages. We don't even know if Scarlet accepted the offer for the main role. Things could change during production. Other than that, I'm not expecting anything until a trailer drops.

[beni 2149]

I actually enjoyed Snow White and the Huntsman so I have no opinion on the director choice. Then again, I find it hard to dislike movies, especially fairy tale ones. I just can't get bored of them. And seeing as I have no idea who Johansson is, I'm clueless with this cast choice too. I am probably being biased because I haven't seen any live actions, but after hearing about how the Dragonball live action did, I'm not all for live actions being made outside Japan. 

[sai 868]

Wait where did that rumor come from that Scarlet would take the role? I thought it was pretty much already clear that Margot Robbie would play the major?

[doombox 4421]

Seems like everyone is sourcing Deadline for this article mentioning her.

[beni 2149]

Oh, was I mistaken? I only ever heard about Johansson being possibly involved. This was published 2 weeks ago and I only spotted Robbie mentioned here. I'm pretty unobservant and didn't see her name headlined in your first post sai, sorry. I forget new names. ><

[doombox 4421]

You didn't get anything wrong benibana, Johanssen was the most recent actress mentioned. Robbie was the original name I heard, but I guess it says she's decided not to take the role.