Though all eyes in the film industry are locked on her role in Joss Whedon’s soon-to-be-released Avengers: Age of Ultron, Black Widow star Scarlett Johansson has provided a quick update regarding her involvement in the upcoming Ghost in the Shell remake, stating that the project will enter production in the beginning of 2016.
Speaking to Collider whilst promoting Marvel’s aforementioned sequel, here’s what the actress had to share on the nascent, anime-inspired film.
“It’s happening. It will be shooting the beginning of next year, so I think we start production January or February and it’s me and Rupert [Sanders]; and that’s all I know.”
Billed as a post-cyberpunk anime, Ghost in the Shell orbits around Motoko Kusanagi (Johansson), a no-nonsense cybernetic human that spearheads a law enforcement division known as Public Security Section 9.
Johansson has no doubt proved her ass-kicking credentials across multiple Marvel movies, and if the actress has her way, it seems as though the character of Natasha Romanoff could become a mainstay amongst Marvel’s grandiose cinematic plans. Either way, the Lucy starlet will have a busy schedule over the next few years, and there’s every chance that Ghost in the Shell could spawn a franchise of some form should the original carve out an audience to call its own. With Sanders behind the lens, Avi Arad and Steven Paul are on board to produce.
With cameras set to roll in the early stages of 2016, common logic would dictate that DreamWorks will slate Ghost in the Shell for a release in 2017. A long way off, sure, but considering how long the project has been incubating in development, fans can take solace in the fact that the adaptation has secured a versatile heroine in Johansson.
