Masamune Shirow’s original Ghost in the Shell manga and its subsequent anime adaptations (including Mamoru Oshii’s feature-length animated movie in 1995) were certainly a significant influence on such western sci-fi landmark titles as The Matrix – and in an example of things coming full-circle, the live-action Ghost in the Shell film is itself now being promoted as “next-gen Matrix“.
Live-action movie adaptations of anime/manga properties don’t have a strong track record at the U.S. box office , but next month’s Ghost in the Shell is aiming to change that.
Sanders and his collaborators have been vocal about their movie’s faithfulness to the visual style of Oshii’s animated Ghost in the Shell movie in particular, to the point of even fully recreating that animated feature’s opening minutes in live-action.
Set in a futuristic version of Hong Kong, the film stars Scarlett Johansson as The Major: a unique human/cyborg hybrid that leads elite cyber-crime fighting team Section 9.