Johansson brings Japanese classic to life
Scarlett Johansson portrays a cyber-enhanced squad leader in Ghost in the Shell. Here are things you need to know:
Bringing an anime classic to life
The film is based on the acclaimed Japanese Kodansha Comics manga series written and illustrated by Masamune Shirow. The internationally popular books first appeared in 1989. The franchise has already inspired two anime films, two television shows, and assorted spinoffs, including novels, video and mobile games.
A sum of former rolls
Johansson’s Major in Ghost in the Shell is a hybrid of some previous humanoid roles. In Lucy, the actress played the drug-induced payback assassin capable of otherworldly feats. Her Black Widow in the Marvel superhero movies is nearly as formidable. Ghost in the Shell has Johansson’s Major battling terrorism when hackers start turning good into evil even as her cyber-self starts questioning the purpose and origins of her existence. (Attention Philip K. Dick fans.)
Custom made for Scarjo
Director Rupert Sanders, of Snow White and the Huntsman fame, prepared a 110-page graphic novel to lay out his narrative intentions for his cinematic exercise. He says he knew immediately Johansson was the perfect “cyber-punk queen” to bring Major to life, so to speak.
Shot in New Zealand
Showing up on the Hong Kong sets as guests were Mamoru Oshii, director of the two previous animated films, and Kenji Kamiyama, the TV show runner. And while Hong Kong and Shanghai provide some scenic opportunities for futuristic skylines and bizarre slums, Ghost in the Shell was mostly shot in Wellington, New Zealand. The sound stages and the WETA postproduction facilities were attuned to meshing live action with digital effects after Peter Jackson shot The Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies
Brief Canadian Apperances
Ghost in the Shell is set in a PanAsian world that includes multiple creeds and races. So the international cast of actors are from the U.S., Japan, Denmark, China, Fiji, New Zealand, Australia, and Canada, among many other countries. Waving the Canuck flag with a brief appearance in the movie is Toronto-born Michael Wincott, who had a recent two-episode arc as Old Bill on HBO’s Westworld.