Woah. Steven Spielberg to direct live-action Ghost in the Shell.... in 3D.

[Watashi]

Hardcore anime fan (and occasional director/producer) Steven Spielberg announced this week plans to adapt the sci-fi anime classic, Ghost in the Shell, as a live-action movie... in 3-D, even, via DreamWorks and co-producer Avi Arad (formerly Marvel's big shot movie guy), whose first post-Marvel project was Bratz: The Movie. The cyberpunk thriller is often cited as an influence on things like The Matrix, so its time for actually getting an American adaptation is probably due, but one has to wonder if it won't be one of those situations (Watchmen, I'm looking at you) where the "originator" ends up being overshadowed by projects that it technically inspired, but was adapted to film/TV/etc after.

Hopefully Spielberg will improve on the so-so anime.

I thought Spielberg was done with Dreamworks?

[Stay Puft]

Forget the anime, go straight to the source. It has been a long time since I have seen the movie or read the manga, but I remember thinking the manga had a lot of great ideas that the movie didn't really capture.

[[ETM]]

The show already captured(s) a lot of what the manga is about. Oshii's films are his own take on it, but are outstanding in their own way. I wish this wasn't being made, because the only way to improve on what has been done already is to make it more daring, which the involvement of Spielberg automatically removes as a possibility.

[Qrazy]

If Spielberg can resist fucking up the ending I'm sold.

[megladon8]

One of my favorite animés of all time...by Spielberg??

Sweet.

[Sxottlan]

Wow.

The anime series takes some getting used to, but it's an incredible complex and thought-provoking show and became one of my favorites. Never read the source material, but I loved the show's sociological perspectives. While I'd love to see The Laughing Man plot on the big screen, I'd also love to see them tackle something new to add to the canon.

I really hope they get the actresses who voice the Tachkomas on the series to bring them to life on film.

Here's hoping the film ends up more memorable than Minority Report. Yup.

[Dukefrukem]

holy shit.... i almost pooped myself. this is going to be epic!

is there a link to this news?

[D_Davis]

Oshii's GitS films, like most of the stuff he does, are brilliant.

Oshii takes the deeper themes of Shirow's manga and crafts a much more socially-mature narrative while shirking a lot (not all) of Shirow's sexist fan-service and gun-porn.

I am interested to see what Spielberg does with this. Could be cool. I am always jazzed when he tackles a SF film.

[Dukefrukem]

DreamWorks has tapped scribe Laeta Kalogridis to adapt the Japanese manga property "Ghost in the Shell."

Source (http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118010309.html?categoryid=1 3&cs=1)

[Skitch]

I LOOOOOOOOOOVE Ghost in the Shell.

[Skitch]

I am always jazzed when he tackles a SF film.

I'm hesitant about Speilberg, but that is a fantastic point. I've loved his recent forays into scifi.

[KK2.0]

I am always jazzed when he tackles a SF film.

Me too. Even when he fails, his movies still have a bunch of memorable imagery and stuff that raises the bar on some level.

And i love Oshii's Ghost in the Shell anime, this news made my day.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Do you have a link that confirms his status on the project? Because this press release probably means that he'll produce.

[megladon8]

Do you have a link that confirms his status on the project? Because this press release probably means that he'll produce.


I think that back when the original announcement was made, Spielberg was a possibility for a director. He's been outspoken about loving the animé (and a lot of animé in general) so when the announcement came out that he was attached to the project in some way, people probably jumped the gun a bit and thought he might direct.

I imagine he'll be the producer, like you said.

It'd be a cool project for Neill Blomkamp to direct.