The filming for the live-action Hollywood film adaptation of Ghost in the Shell has finally started, and as the movie is being filmed in Hong Kong, the movie’s versions of Motoko Kusanagi, played by Scarlet Johansson, and Batou, played by Pilou Asbæk, were spotted.
The photos of the two actors were posted by the South China Morning Post, which reveals that Batou will be keeping his hairstyle from the classic anime, while ScarJo’s Motoko Kusanagi does not divert much from the original character design… except for the actress being Caucasian and the character she is playing is Asian of course. They were spotted around Temple Street in Yau Ma Tei.
The apparent “White Washing” of the roles have drawn much controversy, however, Kodansha executives back in Japan “White Washing” the role never expected an Asian or Japanese actress to play the role of Motoko Kusanagi, who is considered one of the most iconic Japanese anime characters in history. In fact, the Japanese netizens really did not care much about the role going to a non-Japanese.
Snow White and the Huntsman director, Rupert Sanders is at the helm of the project as director, and DreamWorks Pictures producing the movie. DreamWorks executive and legendary director, Steven Spielberg (Jurassic Park, E.T., Indiana Jones) is a huge fan of the original anime movie and has wanted this project to be realized for a long time now, and with the filming of the classic manga already started, Spielberg is finally getting what he wants.
So what do you think of Scarlett Johansson possibly playing Motoko Kusanagi? Will this go the “Edge of Tomorrow” route and be a huge success, or will this go the “Dragon Ball Evolution” route and fail miserably? Only time will tell so let’s keep our fingers crossed.
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Source: South China Morning Post
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