Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

Scarlett Johansson takes the fight to the water in new 'Ghost in the Shell' clip

By Rick Marshall March 21, 2017

Ghost In The Shell (2017) - Water Fight - Paramount Pictures

The live-action film based on Masamune Shirow’s acclaimed manga (and anime) series Ghost in the Shell hits theaters next week, but studio Paramount Pictures has released a clip from the film that fans of the source material will likely find familiar.

The scene features Scarlett Johansson’s cybernetically augmented protagonist dispatching a trigger-happy criminal in a channel filled with shallow water. Her ability to turn nearly invisible (to human eyes, at least) allows her to sneak up on her target, and then her heavily augmented body finishes the job.

Fans of Masamune’s original Ghost in the Shell will no doubt recall the scene playing out in the manga series and anime, with the character played by Johansson in the live-action film bringing an explosive sequence to an end in similar fashion.

Directed by Rupert Sanders (

Snow White and the Huntsman

) from a script penned by Jonathan Herman (Straight Outta Compton
) and Jamie Moss (Street Kings
), Ghost in the Shell casts Johansson as The Major, a human heavily augmented with cybernetic implants who leads an elite special ops unit dubbed Section 9.

Masamune’s series was first published in 1989, and chronicled the exploits of an elite anti-cyberterrorism agency in a future version of Japan at a point when sophisticated hackers are able to manipulate far more than people’s home computers. The series set the group’s adventures against heavy philosophical themes regarding the nature of humanity and the potential tipping point between man and machine in a society when cybernetic augmentation runs rampant.

The live-action Ghost in the Shell has been heavily criticized for its decision to cast Johansson and other non-Asian actors in the lead roles rather than using Asian or Asian-American actors. Along with Johansson, the film stars Michael Pitt (

Seven Psychopaths

) as Kuze, Beat Takeshi Kitano (Autoreiji: Biyondo) as Daisuke Aramaki, Juliette Binoche (The English Patient
) as Dr. Ouelet, and Pilou Asbæk (Lucy
) as Batou.

The live-action Ghost in the Shell hits theaters March 31.

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

A veteran journalist with more than two decades of experience covering local and national news, arts and entertainment, and…

Entertainment

Until Dawn movie director shares a promising, bloody update

A skull hourglass stands ominously on the Until Dawn video game cover.

One of Hollywood's most high-profile forthcoming video game adaptations has reached an important milestone. The film in question, Until Dawn, has been steadily progressing forward ever since it was first announced in January. A cast for the movie, an adaptation of the popular 2015 horror game of the same name, was subsequently put together in June and August, consisting of stars like Ella Rubin, Ji-young Yoo, Michael Cimino, Maia Mitchell, and Peter Stormare. The latter actor is set to reprise his role as Dr. Alan J. Hill from the original Until Dawn video game.

Now, just nine months after it was announced, filming has officially wrapped on Until Dawn. Director David F. Sandberg shared the news on his Instagram, writing, "We made it until dawn! That’s a wrap on #UntilDawnMovie." Sandberg accompanied the caption with an image of him holding up the official Until Dawn film slate in front of a bloody mirror.

Entertainment

Salem’s Lot director reveals the Stephen King adaptation was originally much longer

Mike and Matt peer through a shelf in Salem's Lot.

There was a lot of hype surrounding Salem's Lot heading into its long-awaited streaming premiere in early October. The Gary Dauberman-directed adaptation of Stephen King's beloved 1975 novel originally finished filming in the summer of 2022, but then it was seemingly put on the shelf for an indefinite amount of time by Warner Bros. Pictures. King himself, however, helped bring attention back to the project in February when he tweeted his positive thoughts about it and expressed his confusion over its behind-the-scenes delays. Shortly afterward, WB announced it would be releasing Salem's Lot as a Max exclusive.

King's support of the film did a lot to bolster the early word-of-mouth surrounding it, but that didn't stop Salem's Lot from being welcomed with mostly mixed reviews when it premiered on October 3. The film was notably criticized for its rushed retelling of King's iconic vampire story and its inability to fully flesh out its characters. Some, consequently, speculated that the movie's biggest problems may have been due to studio interference and corporate-mandated cuts.

Entertainment

This recent action movie remake on Netflix is hated by many, but it deserves another look

Edgar Ramirez in Point Break

The original Point Break is seen as something of an action classic, especially among action fans of a certain age. The movie, which starred Patrick Swayze and Keanu Reeves, came out in 1991, and its reputation has only improved in the decades since.

It might seem foolhardy, then, to attempt to remake a movie that so many people already have strong feelings about. And yet, in 2015, director Ericson Core did just that, adapting the story of the original film to feel just a touch more modern. Whether you love the original or not, though, there are plenty of reasons this remake is actually worth watching, especially now that the movie is available to stream on Netflix.