She’s well known as the Black Widow in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. She also played the psychokinetic enhanced human being Lucy.
Now, the beautiful and talented actress named Scarlett Johansson will be adding a new highlight to her resume, as Variety reports the Hollywood starlet has signed up for Dreamworks’ upcoming film adaptation of the popular Japanese anime film known as “Ghost in the Shell”.
Based on the manga of the same name created by Japanese illustrator and writer Masamune Shirow, Ghost In The Shell tells the story of an organization of counter-cyberterrorist operatives working for the Japanese National Public Safety Commission known collectively as “Public Security Section 9” in the 21st Century, which is led by an augmented-cybernetic woman named Major Motoko Kusanagi. The manga ran from 1989-1997, and inspired its very popular Anime movie that was originally released on November 18, 1995 with animation by Production I.G.
In Japan, the manga was originally called “Kōkaku Kidōtai” or “Mobile Armored Riot Police” by the original publishers, but Shirow has stated he has always wanted his work to be known by “Ghost In The Shell”, with the title being a direct reference to the literary work “The Ghost In The Machine” by Arthur Koestler, which Shirow drew inspiration from.
Since 2008, Dreamworks has been hard at work to get the film on the move. With Johansson now attached, it’s likely to see traction and big movement. Rupert Sanders has been tapped as director, with Avi Arad and Steven Paul producing. Mark Sourian is serving as executive producer, and the script treatment for the film is done by Bill Wheeler.