A little while back, we brought you the news that The Wolf of Wall Street’s Margot Robbie was eyeing the lead role in DreamWorks’ live-action rendition of popular manga series, Ghost in the Shell. However, now that the actress has entered talks to star in the recently-announced Suicide Squad film — along with Tom Hardy & Will Smith — the role has reportedly been offered to a certain Ms. Romanoff.
That’s right, according to Deadline, DreamWorks has turned its attention towards Scarlett Johansson, with the studio offering an alleged $10 million to secure the actress’ place in the long-gestating manga. Though the jury is still out on whether the Lucy star will sign on for the project, we assume she’ll step into the shoes of one Motoko Kusanagi.
For the uninitiated, Ghost in the Shell is best described as post-cyberpunk anime that follows Kusanagi — a cybernetic human that leads a law enforcement agency known as Public Security Section 9.
Since the beloved manga stopped back in 1997, Ghost in the Shell has remained a mainstay in popular culture thanks to a string of anime films, a television series, and even a third-person PlayStation One game of the same name.
Talk of a live-screen vvisualization first came to the fore when Steven Spielberg picked up the rights back in 2009. Since that time, many filmmakers have flirted with signing on to direct the big screen adaptation of Mamoru Oshii’s revered source material. But now, that responsibility has been passed to Snow White and the Huntsman’s Rupert Saunders, who committed to the project back in January.
Without doubt, having Scarlett Johansson on board could give DreamWorks’ Ghost in the Shell that global appeal that it so needs. After all, the actress is hot property in Hollywood of late, following successful turns in The Avengers and, more recently, Luc Besson’s Lucy.
Tell us, do you think Scarlett Johnasson is suited for the role of Motoko Kusanagi? Let us know in the comments.
