Sam Riley Joins Rupert Sanders's Manga/Anime Adap, GHOST IN THE SHELL

It’s no easy thing to deal with a Hollywood adaptation of a beloved Japanese animated property and such a case includes the latest developments surrounding Snow White & The Huntsman helmer Rupert Sanders’s latest, Ghost In The Shell. The brouhaha hasn’t really settled since actress Scarlett Johansson was cast for the lead role which happens to be Japanese with an associated name based on the classic anime, and with filming set for New Zealand, further casting announcements are being made that stray farther from the Japan setting in the preceding manga and anime.

Thus, with Johansson and actor Pilou Asbæk joining in the role of “Borgen”, Variety confirms that actor Sam Riley has been cast to play the main villain. Dreamworks and Paramount are backing and producing the film for its release in March of 2017 with a script by Straight Outta Compton scribe Jonathan Herman. Production starts sometime between January and February of next year, which probably still won’t mean much for critics still weary of Hollywood white-washing an ancient African civilization for the sake of fantasy storytelling (talking to you, Gods Of Egypt), though hopefully the special effects and overall respective application of Shirow Masumane’s and Oshii Mamoru’s visions will be a respectful one that fans can appreciate. For now though, it’s a tough pill to swallow.

Riley next appears in Burr Steers’s Pride And Prejudice And Zombies on February 5, 2016, prior to Ben Wheatley’s latest crime pic thereafter, Free Fire, which has since been acquired by Alchemy following last week’s events at the AFM.