Live-Action “Ghost in the Shell” rumbles on with Laeta Kalogridis screenplay

by Marc Saint-Cyr

For fans of Mamoru Oshii’s classic anime “Ghost in the Shell” like myself, this bit of news could inspire anything from groans of frustration to feelings of vague interest to shrugs of indifference (I chose the latter). Regardless, it looks like the live-action adaptation of the popular Masamune Shirow manga from Dreamworks and Steven Spielberg is still progressing towards realization. Laeta Kalogridis, screenwriter for Martin Scorsese’s latest hit “Shutter Island,” recently confirmed at a Q&A session for that film in Los Angeles that she is weeks away from completing a first draft for the new project and intending to keep the lead role female (almost definitely referring to the original’s kick-ass cyborg protagonist Major Motoko Kusanagi).

It’s nice to see a writer fresh from a strong project handling this adaptation, but I’m kind-of indifferent either way, as I’m perfectly happy with the original anime film and don’t want to invest too much in a remake that might pan out to be a horrible, “Aeon Flux”-ish disappointment.

Thanks to Anime News Network for this story.