Scarlett Johansson to star in live-action Ghost In The Shell movie

By Rick Marshall January 6, 2015

Scarlett Johansson Black Widow — Image used with permission by copyright holder

After kicking butt in The Avengers and Lucy, Scarlett Johansson has yet another action-heavy project on the horizon, with a starring role in the upcoming live-action film based on Masamune Shirow’s Ghost in the Shell manga.

Variety reports that Johansson has agreed to headline the DreamWorks film about a team of covert ops agents tasked with handling high-tech crimes. Many of the agents have been augmented with futuristic technology that gives them superhuman abilities, and the series often explored philosophical questions related to the extent which which a person can replace parts of their body with cybernetic implants and still be considered “human.”

The protagonist of the original Ghost in the Shell series — and many of the various animated feature films and miniseries based on it — is female agent Motoko Kusanagi, who was forced to replace much of her body with cybernetic technology due to an accident.

Snow White and the Huntsman director Rupert Sanders is currently attached to direct the live-action Ghost in the Shell movie, which is based on a screenplay by William Wheeler. There’s no release date set for the film at this point.

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