After 19 years since its debut in 1989, DreamWorks has finally secured the rights to adapt the Japanese manga and anime series Ghost in the Shell into a 3D live-action feature film. Both Universal and Sony were also chasing the rights, but Steven Spielberg himself took a personal interest in it and made sure it ended up in the hands of his company - DreamWorks. Spielberg says that Ghost in the Shell is one of his favorite stories and is "a genre that has arrived and we enthusiastically welcome it to DreamWorks." This plays off of the announcement from February that Akira, one of the other heralded Japanese anime properties, is being adapted by Warner Brothers as well.
Street Kings screenwriter Jamie Moss has been hired to write the adaptation. Ex-Marvel CEO Avi Arad and Steven Paul, who originally brought the project to the studio, will both produce. A director has not been announced yet. DreamWorks president of production Adam Goodman enthused that Ghost in the Shell is a property "that epitomizes 3-D live-action motion picture possibilities." A production schedule has not been announced, however it's likely DreamWorks will be aiming to get this together to follow Akira's debut in the summer of 2009.
Created by Masamune Shirow, Ghost in the Shell was first published in 1989. It went on to generate two additional manga editions, three anime film adaptations, an anime TV series and three videogames. Ghost in the Shell is a futuristic police thriller dealing with the exploits of Motoko Kusanagi, a member of the covert operations section of the Japanese National Public Safety Commission, Section 9, which specializes in fighting technology-related crime. Although supposedly equal to all other members, Kusanagi fills the leadership role in the team, and is usually referred to as "the Major" due to her past rank in the armed forces. She is capable of superhuman feats, and bionically specialized for her job - her body is almost completely mechanized; only her brain and a segment of her spinal cord are organic.
I'm a huge fan of the two Ghost in the Shell anime movies and am incredibly excited to see this finally come together under Spielberg's discretion. It looks like the new trend in Hollywood definitely is adapting anime and it looks like both Paramount (Ghost in the Shell) and Warner Brothers (Akira) have their big properties. I only hope that Jamie Moss is a talented enough screenwriter to maintain the brilliant subtleties and undertones of the Ghost in the Shell series and not turn it into a steaming pile of Hollywood crap. For now I'll remain confident and maintain my excitement as this project develops.
Source:FirstShowing
Very interesting. The only thing I've ever seen in 3D was old Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds" at Universal Orlando.
ReplyDeleteI'm a little sceptical about 3D moviesnow-a-days(Hannah Montana 3D, I'm looking at you), but I'm excited that GITS is getting major attention.
NANOMACHINES AND ROBOTS OF THE FUTURE! it will be good, wait and see..
ReplyDeleteGhost in the shell is too good for Hollywood. It is one of the few anime that had great artwork combined with great plot and dialogue. Mark my words, Hollywood will destroy it with big money and big effects.
ReplyDeleteWonderful, So Spielberg decides to bugger Harrison Fords possibly last best kept film franchise into the anus of film history which could only be described as the rape of Indiana Jones in The Kingdom of the Crystal Phallus. In his unrelenting thirst which can only be described as a raping rampage of every film I ever liked that he made, he will soon start the desecration of one of my favorite Manga films; yay. I am so excited to see the addition of Major Kusanagi dead and raped body next to that of Yoda, Storm troopers, Ewoks, JaJa Binx. JaJa Binx WTF MAN (post represent opinion only, Reference south-park)
ReplyDeleteAre you kidding me? This is going to be a disaster for GitS. Spielberg is great within his own, but everything Spielberg touches reeks of schmaltz. GitS has an edge to it. Do you see Speilberg doing nipples on his cyborgs? Let's keep our expectations to minimum.
ReplyDeletePlease please Mr Spielberg...
ReplyDeletePlease do not anglicize the people in the movie. How can Motoko Kusanagi be anything but Asian? The same for the old ape Aramaki. Finally, please please please please please do not make the tachcoma's as shallow as R2D2....
Dig a little bit deeper. Give this show some soul or at least a Ghost
There is a great thread of human evolution running through both the original manga and the GITS film. It would be a shame, especially given the religio/scientific divide in the US presently, to let that opportunity pass. It is truly a compelling stance; namely, that we as a species will continue to evolve not in spite of technology, but because of it.
ReplyDeletewow this would be great, this anime it's very nice I can imagine how it would be in a 3D live action, omg, it's gonna boom.
ReplyDeleteThanks for news