Bionic Woman Writer to Adapt Ghost in the Shell For Big Screen

[Uncompetative]

They'll probably have Americans play the entirely Japanese cast.

Edit: Charlize Theron will most likely play Motoko Kusanagi.

Spoiler: Here are some possible Japanese actresses for the roles: (Click to see pictures)

Motoko Kusanagi

Erica Sato

Motoko Kusanagi

Erica Sato

Motoko Kusanagi

Erica Sato

Motoko Kusanagi - inside this (occasionally invisible) Tachikoma battletank.

Erica Sato

Alternatively, if she is unavailable for the role, you could have:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Y5TwdoOLPTI/SuH49kB655I/AAAAAAAAKwM/Urks18fq2hQ/s1600-h/ghostintheshell102309.bmp
Motoko Kusanagi - nude

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Y5TwdoOLPTI/SVeWu7CIy2I/AAAAAAAAEuo/PNrthXQYZSc/s1600-h/hot2008fharuminemoto.jpg
Harumi Nemoto - rude

;-)

I don't understand all the negativity here, I'm looking forward to it.

 

[God's Clown]

A very sad thing this. They are going to ruin the series.

 

[Disembodied_Dave]

Oh sigh. Hopefully it'll be as benign as the Aeon Flux movie.

 

[cleverlymadeup]

this could be interesting, i can see how this can easily be done as a movie. tho i think it will be the anime movie and not the manga, tho i could be a hybrid of the two

 

[Murian]

Dreamworks. Oh dear. They already have a bad track record with the franchise.

They originally picked up the licence to distribute Innocence (the second Ghost in the Shell movie)in the US and they rush-released the DVDs for what appeared to be just a simple cash in. Bandai Visual re-released it so that it actually had some features.

 

[Paragon Fury]

Waitwaitwait...."adapt"? I thought you "adapted" series like Evangelion, DBZ, DeathNote etc. because they either went on for far too fucking long (DBZ) or too fucking convulted to be understood by anyone not already tonguewashing the series to death (Evangelion, DeathNote).

GiTS may have a few nuances, but nothing that an 1.45 or 2 hour film couldn't handle. Though I do hope they decide to use the SAC series though, because it would be a little bit easier for a general audience to grasp. Little less mindfuckery, little more action than the original.

 

[KeyMaster45]

Why...?

Why do people feel the need to turn perfectly good Anime into a live-action adaptation?
How is that an improvement? I mean, especially when the end result tends to be pure shit.
(Ahem. Dragonball, Death Note...)

And American adaptations in particular...
Why? Is the "It's animated, therefore it must be for kids" idea so deeply ingrained that this is the only thing you can come up with to show people some of these stories are actually worth seeing sometimes?

As for your first question the answer to that is Hollywood has run out of high profile book series to bastardize and slap on the big screen.

The second as to why animated films hold such a stigma in the U.S. is because there really are no serious adult animated shows, and that's partly due to anime's presence over here. There is also the animated industry's reluctance to take a risk and produce an animated show that is serious and not the usual low-brow bathroom jokes in a more adult setting.

This really did make my stomach churn when I read the article title. I was fiercely addicted ghost in the shell's series and am sorry to say that any attempt at a live-action adaptation will suck just as bad as the dragonball movie.

 

[Sevre]

They'll probably have Americans play the entirely Japanese cast.

Edit: Charlize Theron will most likely play Motoko Kusanagi.

Here are some possible Japanese actresses for the roles:

Motoko Kusanagi

Erica Sato

Motoko Kusanagi

Erica Sato

Motoko Kusanagi

Erica Sato

Motoko Kusanagi - inside this (occasionally invisible) Tachikoma battletank.

Erica Sato

Alternatively, if she is unavailable for the role, you could have:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Y5TwdoOLPTI/SuH49kB655I/AAAAAAAAKwM/Urks18fq2hQ/s1600-h/ghostintheshell102309.bmp
Motoko Kusanagi - nude

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Y5TwdoOLPTI/SVeWu7CIy2I/AAAAAAAAEuo/PNrthXQYZSc/s1600-h/hot2008fharuminemoto.jpg
Harumi Nemoto - rude

;-)

I don't understand all the negativity here, I'm looking forward to it.

Yes I am now looking forward to seeing Erica Sato this movie.

 

[scarab7]

What I really hate about adaptations and live-actions are the fact there is a language and regional divide. If anyone watches anime, and has seen at least one episode of whatever dubbed and one with translations, then you'll know what I'm talking about. People argue whether dubbed or translated is better for the audience on so many levels. I think whenever there is a transition something is lost. First...

Not in Japanese: Most people can deal with it, but I like to watch a film in it's original language. Not a big deal but still.

Source material: Um, so it's a Japanese manga (comic), that became a Japanese anime movie, which renewed it's own Japanese anime series, and some other little stuff in between. Then Americans are going to port these ideas, characters, and thematic elements into a live-action movie, intended for American views? Sounds a lot of money down the drain.

Japan is not American, no matter how many pseudo-Japanese American there are: If anyone has read a novel, watched a movie/TV series, from another culture let alone another country, you'll realize there are a lot of differences in everything from street slag to politics. I think that the movie will either end sacrificing so much of the source material and the culture behind it, and become something with "Ghost in the Shell" tacked on to it. Or on the rare and strange occasion, it becomes a movie that actually satisfies the fan-base, but would fail to deliver stereotypical effects and scenes (I.E. Exploding cars in blimps on fire with bikinis) that would initially attract the every day American audience. Even more so the more they cater to a fan-bases needs, to more confusing characters, relationships, and the overall plot. Anyone else think if you show a 30 second clip of a Tachikoma talking, in it's child like voice to a highly armed squad of Japanese SWAT, that it would confuse the hell out of most people? The impossible situation is a combination of both to the point where people love it and fans don't cry in anguish, but that's a dream in a dream.

Long story short, Ghost in the Shell live-action adaptation = BAD IDEA

 

[messy]

Well this is bound to turn out well, since the team did such a good job with fantasitc four.

Seriously just please don't do it, you'll be wasting both mine and yours time and money, because lets face it I will have to go see it and I'm just going to ***** the whole time how it didn't stay true.

I don't know what Ghost in the Cell is, but I can alreasy tell this movie is going to be bad.

It's ghost in the shell not cell, although cell has images of a ghost/bacteria or a ghost prison both of which if they were made into films/books/games i'd watch/read/play

I always liked the plot material for Ghost in the Shell, the whole "Border between Man and Machine" debate. And in the defense of the idea of a Live Action Ghost in the Shell: That's a pretty realistic anime to start with, unlike the Dragonball series where they really had to stretch to make it work for a live action movie.

This is a good point I wonder how they'll handle that debate though cause it cold be really rather good or be a bit hollywood on us where it turns out it doesn't really matter if your man or machine and we're all just "human" or something like that

 

[Eric the Orange]

Every time, without exception, A non-Japanese company (and about half the time when it is a Japanese company) tries to make a live anime adaptation, they fail miserably. This will be no exception.

My theory being anything made for release in theaters is always changed to "appeal to a wider audience". The same reason horror movies get toned down now a days to get a PG-13 rating. In this case the movie will be changed so that they hope non-anime fans will go see it. Which is some silly logic because people who aren't fans of the anime, most likely wont want to see a movie based on said anime. And fans of the anime will be repulsed by the changes made and not want to see it either. So it would be better just to get the animation studio to make an animated move directed at the fans.

But the again maybe anime just isn't compatible with live action, no matter who makes it.

 

[Arrers]

I'm not sure what to say about this never having seen or read Ghost In The Shell. but it all sounds a little pointless.

Also pretty much all live-action remakes of popular manga are awful. Japan's been churning them out for years, and not many people can name more than a few good ones.

 

[Eric the Orange]

pictures

Dude, you gotta put those things in spoiler boxes for those of us with slower Internets.

 

[scarab7]

Every time, without exception, A non-Japanese company (and about half the time when it is a Japanese company) tries to make a live anime adaptation, they fail miserably. This will be no exception.

My theory being anything made for release in theaters is always changed to "appeal to a wider audience". The same reason horror movies get toned down now a days to get a PG-13 rating. In this case the movie will be changed so that they hope non-anime fans will go see it. Which is some silly logic because people who aren't fans of the anime, most likely wont want to see a movie based on said anime. And fans of the anime will be repulsed by the changes made and not want to see it either. So it would be better just to get the animation studio to make an animated move directed at the fans.

But the again maybe anime just isn't compatible with live action, no matter who makes it.

I'd agree with this except there could be a total opposite on audience appeal. As in make it rated R and the trailers are all actions and crappy one-liners. And giant robots that were made up by the company, can't forget about giant robots. The hype will be so bad because everyone will think the opening seen is with the Motoko Kusanagi jumping off a skyscraper naked. Then people either won't get it or the story will having nothing to do with anything from the series.

 

[Cousin_IT]

Maybe if we all wish really hard, we won't get another DragonBall Evolution.

Better that then another Blood: The Last Vampire. Also, all the nerds demanding Oriental actresses play the lead roles seem to forget that when English language films are lead by people whose grasp of the language is pretty basic, it is painful to listen to.

 

[Uncompetative]

Waitwaitwait...."adapt"? I thought you "adapted" series like Evangelion, DBZ, DeathNote etc. because they either went on for far too fucking long (DBZ) or too fucking convulted to be understood by anyone not already tonguewashing the series to death (Evangelion, DeathNote).

GiTS may have a few nuances, but nothing that an 1.45 or 2 hour film couldn't handle. Though I do hope they decide to use the SAC series though, because it would be a little bit easier for a general audience to grasp. Little less mindfuckery, little more action than the original.

Agreed, the 'Complex' storyline of SAC was awesome.

 

[Uncompetative]

pictures

Dude, you gotta put those things in spoiler boxes for those of us with slower Internets.

Fixed. Although, I can't do much about the person who quoted me.

 

[Kenjitsuka]

One of my favoured manga and anime series, ready to get butchered like Dragonball.

 

[DamienHell]

Well I've seen both the original Ghost in the Shell movies, and they were good. But history tells me this will flop.

 

[slaygore]

NOOOOOO!!!

We already have an american version of ghost in the shell, it's called THE MATRIX