It has been speculated and finally confirmed that http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0424060/ (Black Widow - Marvel Comic Movies and most recently Lucy) will star as Major Kusanagi in the upcoming live action film from Dreamworks: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_in_the_Shell.

Ghost in the Shell has been a long running Manga/Anime franchise in Japan that is critically acclaimed and has a large fan base. Set in the year ~2029, typically they follow the adventures of Major Kusanagi as an agent of Section 9 (a top secret agency thats focus in on cyber security). Being her body is fully prosthetic she possesses speed, strength and stamina above that of a normal human. Her brain is also cybernetic which allows for computer fast calculations and processing. Essentially she is a complete bad ass.

The series itself though isn't your run of the mill anime and presents controversial moral dilemmas and philosophies that leave you deep thought.

Now for my purpose of making this thread:

First:

While Scarlett Johansson has proven to be able to play as a strong female character, is she the right pick for such a prominent role?

I see potential in her but it's still a toss up for me. Also I see many negative posts because Dreamworks didn't pick a Asian female to fill the role. While I agree that would have been ideal, is there really any Asian females that could fill that role? I do not think it's a case of "Hollywood Whitewashing" as I see posted, but rather they have picked the best well known actress that can strongly fill that role.

Second:

Do you think that Dreamworks can pull off a live action movie that is worthy to fit in the Ghost in the Shell universe?

I think it's possible but it could go either way. Dreamworks has a good run of well made movies but they're not well versed in live action movies and they have never made a movie (to my knowledge) that has the potential to be as violent as the Ghost in the Shell franchise can be. I do not think it's them just grasping for something big and has a large fan base, I think it could go either way but I am currently giving them the benefit of the doubt.

No. Just no. I don't want GITS to get the Hollywood (mis)treatment.

I have not seen this Anime before, so ill check it out one of these days (i have heard of it before, and apparently it's pretty good).

But that being said, going by the track record, hollywood has never turned an Anime into a good live action movie, they're usually absolutely terrible in every aspect and do nothing but piss off fans. The movie itself might even turn out great as a movie, but i can almost guarantee that fans of the Anime are not going to like the live action movie (again, dont know the anime, just going off of track record of hollywood and making live action movies from animes).

I can't see any good coming out of a Hollywood adaption of an anime.

Watch the first movie from the 90's ( Ghost in the Shell ) then anything else is fair game, though I would place the tv series next in line ( Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex )

I want to give this the benefit of the doubt, but Scarlet Johansson isn't exactly on my lift of 'quality actors'.

Yeah pretty much this. I like Scarlett Johansson but a live version of GitS is a no-no and the major complaint is going to be---"She not Japanese"! It will be the Super Mario Bros. Movie all over again.

Didn't watch the anime, but it sounds like a terrible idea. With all the roles she's lately taking, it's like making a movie with a famous comicbook hero played by Stallone. It's no longer a movie about the comic book character, it becomes yet another Stallone movie. If you know what I mean. I svck at explaining, basically, it'll be another "Scarlett Johansson movie playing some anime chick" for 90% of the people that'll watch the movie.

It's like that woman who played Alice in the Resident Evil movies, after the first film it stopped being Resident Evil and was renamed Alice movie part 2 and 3 and so on.

I do not think it is going to turn out well. I do not recall if any live action version of an anime franchise has ever been good especially if it is Hollywood is doing it.

I don't mind Scarlett Johansson in general, but I don't really like her as Black Widow, and I probably wouldn't like her as The Major. She's too short, cute, and girlish. I always imagined The Major as a tall, strong woman that exudes "serious business." Sounds like they're looking for a popular name to sell tickets rather than an actor that fits the character.

That said, I liked her voice-over work in Her. I think she could probably do The Major's voice pretty well.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000170/?ref_=tt_cl_t4's a terrible actor, though. Well, IMO, at least.

my thoughts exactly..

Terrible choice. But then, I always knew they'd butcher this if it came to Hollywood.