Ghost in the Shell

[GeneChing]

[GeneChing]

[GeneChing]

Live-action Ghost in the Shell brings back main anime cast for its Japanese-dubbed version
Casey Baseel 4 days ago



The protagonist of the Hollywood anime adaptation will always look like Scarlet Johansson, but she won’t always sound like her.

The titles of a lot of anime and manga were chosen by their creators simply because they sound cool, but “Ghost in the Shell” actually has a strong connection to the events of the series. Ghost in the Shell’s most defining characteristic is the prevalence of technology that allows people to transfer their consciousness (ghost) into a different mechanical body or vessel (shell), and the franchise’s plotlines often explore the military, political, and philosophical ramifications of those capabilities.

▼ Trailer for the upcoming Ghost in the Shell movie



So it’s sort of fitting that even when Ghost in the Shell makes the leap to live-action with the soon-to-be-released Hollywood adaptation, when Scarlet Johansson’s character, The Major, opens her mouth, in some versions she’ll sound exactly like the 1995 Ghost in the Shell anime movie’s protagonist Motoko Kusanagi.

Ahead of the live-action Ghost in the Shell’s release in Japanese theaters, it’s been announced that the Japanese-dubbed version of the film will feature the voice of Atsuko Tanaka as The Major. Tanaka voiced Kusanagi in not only the 1995 theatrical anime that served as the franchise’s breakout moment in the international anime and sci-fi communities, but also its sequel Innocence and the Stand Alone Complex TV series.

▼ Oddly enough, the red bodysuit The Major can be seen wearing in the trailer is inspired by Kusanagi’s outfit from Ghost in the Shell: Arise, in which Tanaka was replaced by a different voice actress.


Also reprising their roles from the anime film and TV series are Akio Otsuka as Kusanagi’s burley cohort Batou and Koichi Yamadera as cybernetics-averse Togusa. Having seen much of the live-action Ghost while recording their dialogue, Ostuka expressed his admiration for the film, saying “There were many scenes that were done just like they were in the anime, and I was happy to see that the filmmakers have such an obvious respect for the source material.”

As with many foreign films, the live-action Ghost in the Shell will screen in both its original language (English) with Japanese subtitles and also in Japanese-dubbed format. Tanaka is hoping some fans come out to see the latter version, though. “I am so happy that the Hollywood version is being dubbed with the original cast,” the voice actress said. “Closing my eyes, and just working off of Otsuka and Yamadera’s voices, like animation scenes come flying, it was a mysterious experience.”

▼ As a side benefit, closing her eyes would also help prevent being distracted by questionable set design in the live-action film.


Ghost in the Shell opens in Japanese theaters on April 7.

Source: Livedoor News via Jin
Images: YouTube/Paramount Pictures

Follow Casey on Twitter, where he’s now got the opening theme from the Ghost in the Shell PlayStation game stuck in his head.

I gotta say that one of the things I find enchanting about ScaJo is her voice.

[GeneChing]

MAJOR BACKFIRE

‘Ghost In The Shell’s Viral Campaign Has Already Backfired A Bit
#TWITTER
CALEB READING
ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR
03.13.17

Ghost In The Shell opens March 31st and is continuing its marketing blitz — from which we’ve already seen the first trailer, a Superbowl spot, the second trailer, a clip, and a featurette — with a new promo (above) and a viral marketing campaign (below) which has summarily backfired.

The viral marketing campaign kicked off with this video set to FKA Twigs’ “Figure 8”:



In the promo, Scarlett Johansson informs us “I am hunted. I am the hunter. I am Major.” The video then points viewers to IAmMajor.me, where they can upload a photo and a caption to answer the question, “Who are you?” Considering the film has been under fire for casting Johansson as a white, Americanized version of the Major, you might believe what happened next.

As is the case whenever a company lets the public input their own captions, things predictably went pear-shaped, with VzA starting things off:


VIA TWITTER


VIA TWITTER


VIA TWITTER

Whoopsidoodle.

continued next post

[GeneChing]

From there, other folks on Twitter replied with jokes about other instances of white actors playing Asian characters, like this reference to how Iron Fist actor Finn Jones briefly quit Twitter (they always come back) after scathing criticisms.


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(Via Paramount Pictures, Screen Crush, ValerieComplex, helpmeskeletor, Maria_Giesela, Nice_White_Lady, DLohRidah, IWriteAllDay_, gleebix, and ZweiXross)

Whatev about Danny Rand being originally white - these Ghost in the Shell meme spoofs are pretty funny.

[GeneChing]

Would it have done better with an Asian starlet?

Ghost in the Shell dies at the box office
Controversial movie met with yawns at release
by Ben Kuchera Apr 3, 2017, 9:45am EDT


Jasin Boland/Paramount Pictures

The live-action adaptation of Ghost in the Shell died at the box office this weekend, bringing in $19 million in ticket sales against a budget of $110 million. The film brought in $40 million internationally, although it has yet to open in Japan or China.

Ghost in the Shell suffered from negative buzz every step of the way, from the casting of Scarlett Johansson in the lead role, a character who was Japanese in the original manga and animated versions of the story. Fans used an official meme generator to show their displeasure at the casting.

View image on Twitter
Follow
Pink Veronica 🏳️*🌈 @riotgrrlriot


I Am White. I Am Appropriated. #IAmMajor http://www.iammajor.me/m/HJKkxMEsl
5:28 AM - 13 Mar 2017
421 421 Retweets 876 876 likes

The Steve Aoki remix of the original theme was also met with derision from fans and those with ears.

But the real issue may have been that the film was just bad, even when you remove the issues of casting and the clumsy marketing.

“Ghost in the Shell, by contrast, is a movie that says absolutely nothing,” our review states. “It’s a generic story told by a generic director in a generic way. The plot, predictable as it is, trundles along only because our heroes repeatedly prove themselves oblivious to obvious traps. A major plot point hinges on a woman opening up to a complete stranger about her dead daughter within 30 seconds of meeting her … because, sure, that’s what people do? The film doesn’t even bother explaining the villain’s motivation.”

We’ll see how the movie does internationally, but we’re going to go out on a limb and guess that a sequel is not on the way.

[GeneChing]

How many nails doth a coffin make?

Is a Disappointing Ghost in the Shell the Nail in the Coffin of Hollywood Whitewashing?
The film’s anemic box office is only the latest financial fallout of Asian erasure.
by JOANNA ROBINSON
APRIL 2, 2017 3:54 PM


From left: courtesy of Netflix, courtesy of Paramount, courtesy of Legendary

It’s become increasingly impossible to ignore general social pushback when it comes to Asian representation in film and television. Whether it’s cut-and-dried whitewashing (e.g., casting a white performer in an Asian role) or slightly more complex cases of cultural appropriation, the hue and cry from progressive voices in film and TV criticism has called for an end to white leads in Asian and Asian-inspired properties. But Hollywood—a town driven by dollars and not always sense—is more likely to listen when protests hurt the bottom line. Ghost in the Shell, the Scarlett Johansson-starring adaptation of the popular Japanese manga, is only the latest controversial project to stumble at the box office. Will this misstep finally put an end to whitewashing?

According to Box Office Mojo, in its first weekend, Ghost in the Shell pulled in approximately $20 million domestically on a $110 million budget—below even the conservative prediction that site made earlier in the week. That number looks even more anemic when compared with Lucy, Johansson’s R-rated 2014 film, which pulled in $43.8 million on its opening weekend. Unlike Ghost in the Shell, Lucy wasn’t based on a pre-existing property and didn’t have an established fanbase to draw on. But the Johansson casting has clearly alienated fans of the original manga and anime versions of Ghost in the Shell, and their dampened enthusiasm appears to have discouraged newcomers as well.

The controversy around Johansson’s casting has plagued Ghost in the Shell since late 2014. Johansson stars as Major (whose full name is “Major Motoko Kusanagi” in the manga), a synthetic, cybernetic body housing the brain of a dead Japanese woman. Both fans of the original and advocates for Asian actors in Hollywood argued that a Japanese actress should have been cast in the role, while a spokesperson for Ghost in the Shell publisher Kodansha gave Johansson its blessing, saying the publisher “never imagined it would be a Japanese actress in the first place.” Johansson herself defended the film this week, saying:

I think this character is living a very unique experience in that she has a human brain in an entirely machinate body. I would never attempt to play a person of a different race, obviously. Hopefully, any question that comes up of my casting will be answered by audiences when they see the film.

But it seems audiences weren’t inclined to give the film that chance. There’s no ignoring the fact that controversy cast a cloud over the film, and it’s difficult not to draw a direct line from that to the movie’s disappointing opening weekend.

Ghost in the Shell is not the first project to feel the burn of “race-bent” casting. Though other factors may have added to their unpopularity, The Last Airbender, Exodus: Gods and Kings, Aloha, Pan, and more have all foundered at the box office. (These films also received unfavorable reviews, but bad reviews alone can’t snuff out box-office potential.) Matt Damon’s heavily criticized, China-set film The Great Wall didn’t fare much better. In addition to becoming an Oscar night punchline for Jimmy Kimmel, the movie grossed only $45 million domestically on a $150 million budget. Marvel’s too-big-to-fail Avengers installment Doctor Strange is the recent exception that proves the rule: not even Tilda Swinton’s controversial casting in the historically Asian role of the Ancient One could slow this film down. It made more than $232 million domestically and $677.5 million worldwide.

But since Netflix won’t release ratings data to the public, the jury is still out on whether the Marvel brand was also enough to combat the furor over Finn Jones being cast as the historically white Danny Rand in the latest Defenders installment, Iron Fist. (This is a case in which “cultural appropriation”—Danny is a better martial artist than all the other Asian characters around him—inspired public outcry, rather than “whitewashing.”) While various tech companies have claimed in the past to be able to analyze Netflix’s data, Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos himself has historically pushed back on those results. One such company, 7Park Data, claims that Iron Fist defied both bad reviews and controversy to become Netflix’s “most-binged drama premiere”—meaning audiences allegedly tore through episodes at a faster clip than usual. But by the only Netflix-sanctioned metric available—the site’s soon-to-be-gone star rating—Iron Fist is lagging behind other Defenders shows. As of publication, it had earned only three stars from users, compared with Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and Luke Cage—which all pulled in 4.25 or higher.

Even if Marvel’s bottom line is controversy-proof so far, it’s unlikely that its parent company, the increasingly and intentionally diverse Walt Disney Studios, will want to weather further public relations storms like the ones that swirled around both Doctor Strange and Iron Fist. Paramount, too, seems to have kept its head down when it came to deploying Ghost in the Shell. After it was revealed that the visual effects company Lola VFX had done tests on Ghost in the Shell in order to digitally “shift” the “ethnicity” of a Caucasian actress and make her appear more Asian in the film (there’s disagreement over whether that actress was Johansson herself), the wind went out of the studio’s sails. Ghost in the Shell also screened very late for critics—a sure sign that a studio would prefer to mitigate any damage caused by negative word of mouth and early reviews.

But what has tipped the needle on the issue of Asian erasure in film and television from progressive social concern to bottom-line disrupter? Pushback on both whitewashing and limited opportunities for Asian performers in Hollywood has recently gotten a boosted signal, thanks to both social media and the uncensored honesty of popular Asian and East Asian actors like Kal Penn, John Cho, Constance Wu, Aziz Ansari, and Ming-Na Wen. And that boosted signal comes at a time when, according to a 2016 MPAA study, younger (and likely more socially progressive) Asian-American film-goers between the ages of 18 and 24 are going to more movies, while the Caucasian film-going population is on the decline.

But domestic box office alone may not be enough to bring about social change. With Hollywood increasingly obsessed with appealing to lucrative Asian markets abroad, it’s as yet unclear whether casting white leads in Asian-centric or inspired properties hurts the global bottom line. The Great Wall, directed by Chinese legend Zhang Yimou, did decently overseas, making 86.4 percent of its total intake on foreign screens. And while Ghost in the Shell has yet to open in either Japan or China, it took in roughly $40.1 million in other foreign markets this weekend, including Russia, Germany, and South Korea. Then again, the massive global box-office returns of films with diverse casts, including Rogue One and the Fast and the Furious franchise, render any argument that Caucasian actors are required for international success null and void.

Meanwhile, at home, the protests against Asian erasure are only growing more intense. While still licking its wounds from the critical drubbing it received for Iron Fist, Netflix is staring down the barrel of another appropriation controversy. This time, it’s the popular manga Death Note that has gotten a Seattle-based makeover, putting Caucasian actors Nat Wolff and Margaret Qualley in roles that originally had the last names Yagami and Amane. Willem Dafoe will voice the Japanese spirit Ryuk. The protest around Death Note is already significantly louder than for other past American adaptations of Asian properties like The Ring, The Grudge, and The Departed.

Though America itself is a very socially divided country, the cool, impartial truth of box-office returns reveals a film and TV industry that is facing a sea change when it comes to Asian representation. History may soon look back on the Asian erasure of Doctor Strange, Iron Fist, and Ghost in the Shell with an even more unfavorable eye. Just as blackface in film and TV gradually became unacceptable (and more recently than you may think), the marginalization and appropriation of Asian culture could be on its way out the door—with these recent financial disappointments only serving as a last gasp of a bygone era.

[GeneChing]

Anyone see this yet?

China Box Office: 'Ghost in the Shell' Wins Weekend, but Not By Enough
12:47 AM PDT 4/10/2017 by Patrick Brzeski


Courtesy of Paramount.
'Ghost in the Shell'

The troubled Scarlett Johansson sci-fi thriller escaped embarassment in the Middle Kingdom but didn't put up big enough numbers to turn around its global fortunes.
Paramount's Ghost in the Shell opened at the top of the Chinese box office over the weekend, earning $21.4 million to beat a declining Kong: Skull Island, which took $11.2 million in its third frame.

The Scarlett Johansson sci-fi thriller's China opening cleanly eclipsed its desultory $18.6 debut in North America, where a high-profile "whitewashing" controversy and tepid reviews took a toll. But while $20 million-plus isn't Hollywood's worst China launch this year — Passengers opened to $17.5 million during a particularly unfavorable pre-Chinese New Year frame — it's not quite the heroic recoup the studios have come to occasionally hope for from China (See Resident Evil: The Final Chapter's massive $94 million Middle Kingdom opening, or Pacific Rim's $45.3 million bow in 2013, which proved instrumental to the film getting a sequel).

Word of mouth for Ghost in the Shell hasn't been bad. It currently has a rating of 6.6 on leading reviews aggregator Douban, not far behind Kong's score of 6.8. And Chinese mobile ticketing service Weying, which took a 10 percent stake in the film last month, gave it a strong marketing push across its platforms. The cult Japanese anime on which the film is based is much less known in China than other mainstream Japanese properties, however.

With China declining to blow the doors off and Japan even less enthusiastic — the film opened in second place in the source material's home, taking just $3.2 million — the Rupert Sanders-directed effects spectacle looks inescapably like a loss-maker. The movie has earned $124.1 million globally, but cost $110 million to make, before marketing.

After three weekends and 17 days stomping across Chinese screens, Kong's local total has climbed to $160.9 million. The Legendary Entertainment and Warner Bros. period monster epic should push past Vin Diesel's xXx: The Return of Xander Cage ($163.6 million) sometime this week to become the biggest international release of 2017 in China, so far.

The local competition made only modest gains over the weekend. Beijing Enlight's mystery thriller The Devotion of Suspect X, an adaptation of a best-selling Japanese mystery novel, added $9.3 million for a 10-day cume of $52.3 million. Perfect World Pictures' police action thriller Extraordinary Mission earned $3.5 million, bumping its total to $20.4 million.

On Friday, all contenders are expected to be drowned out in the roar of The Fate of the Furious racing out of the gate. Local analysts will be watching closely to see if the latest installment in the hit franchise can come within shouting distance of Furious 7's historic $390 million showing in 2015.

PATRICK BRZESKI
THRnews@thr.com

[Jimbo]

The original anime movie was great. I wouldn't even bother watching this one. Even if the lead were played by a Japanese actress. IMO, some things should be left alone. Live-action adaptations of anime typically fail...badly. And usually for good reason.

What's worse is when white actors/actresses are cast with the original characters' Japanese names and/or it's still in a Japanese setting. I believe in the same way they were (are?) planning to do with Akira. Hopefully this puts the kibosh on that idea.

Regarding whitewashing, it's important to recognize when it's there and when it's not. Otherwise, we become the boy who cried wolf. IMO, Ghost in the Shell is a perfect example of whitewashing. Regardless if the creator of the original OK'd it or not. The concept of whitewashing is alien to most people in Japan, China, etc. You pretty much have to be from (or have lived long-term and have awareness in) the culture where whitewashing has been a long tradition to have a clue.

[Cataphract]

IMO, some things should be left alone.

They are rebooting Escape from New York btw.

I believe in the same way they were (are?) planning to do with Akira.

With Tom Cruise as Kaneda. Last time I've heard it was in development hell.

Regarding whitewashing, it's important to recognize when it's there and when it's not. Otherwise, we become the boy who cried wolf. IMO, Ghost in the Shell is a perfect example of whitewashing.

Noooo! Major Kusanagi is a brain in a prosthetic body. She could be a black guy. She's got blue eyes and a totally nondescript face. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113568/mediaindex I totally hate seeing ScarJo in every SciFi movie these days. (I like her as Black Widow.) But that's not whitewashing. That's ripping off ***** fanboys.

[Jimbo]

Noooo! Major Kusanagi is a brain in a prosthetic body. She could be a black guy. She's got blue eyes and a totally nondescript face. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113568/mediaindex I totally hate seeing ScarJo in every SciFi movie these days. (I like her as Black Widow.) But that's not whitewashing. That's ripping off ***** fanboys.

Then rename her character 'Major Silvstedt' or something like that, and set it in America or somewhere in Europe. Since ScarJo is 100% European. I knew the character's eyes were blue. And some Japanese with Ainu mix have green eyes. Some 100% Asians also have blue eyes, unrelated to blue eyes in Europeans. It's rare, but it happens. My paternal grandfather, my dad and his brothers (all Japanese) had wavy hair and facial features (eyes, nose, etc.) that made them look 'hapa' or some type of Native American, but they weren't. They certainly did not fit the stereotypical Western image of a Japanese man. Over the years, a number of white people were unclear as to their race, unless they knew them and their names. That may be pushing it, but maybe you get my point.

As I mentioned, change the name and the setting. BTW, I'm not a 'fanboy' of the anime, but I thought it was great.

[Cataphract]

Then rename her character 'Major Silvstedt' or something like that, and set it in America or somewhere in Europe.

The original 1995 movie warrants a Major with a non-Japanese shell and Japanese name, optically and story-wise. It is a plot device. Ghost in the Shell is not about race, but touches on that topic when the character's identity or ghost is questioned time and again. The Major isn't even sure whether she might be 100% robot.

Her optics are mercurial as to her ethnicity and sex. Should have cast somebody with a mixed background probably.

Since ScarJo is 100% European.

More like 100% American. Sorry.

That may be pushing it, but maybe you get my point.

Ok got it, but your relatives weren't assembled in a lab.

As I mentioned, change the name and the setting. BTW, I'm not a 'fanboy' of the anime, but I thought it was great.

I meant the ScarJo fanboys getting ripped of by casting ScarJo for every other movie. GITS is great.

[GeneChing]

Perhaps it got Lost in Translation?*

Why Japan Won't Save 'Ghost in the Shell' From Being a Box-Office Flop
7:56 AM PDT 4/10/2017 by Gavin J. Blair

Photofest
'Ghost in the Shell' (2017), left; 'Ghost in the Shell' (1995)

Despite the generally positive local reaction to the Hollywood addition to the beloved franchise, the film's home fanbase is too small to make a difference.
Japan isn't going to save Ghost in the Shell from registering red ink, though the filmmakers may be able to take some solace from the way their version is being received in its birthplace.

The Rupert Sanders-directed, Scarlett Johansson-starring take on the classic manga and anime opened Friday in Japan, taking in $3.2 million from 233,000 admissions at 611 screens over the weekend. Its Saturday-Sunday total was $2.4 million, landing it behind Sing, which topped the box-office charts for the fourth weekend. (Local charts are calculated on admissions rather than revenue, putting Ghost in the Shell third behind Disney's Moana.)

Despite a committed marketing campaign in Japan — including a talk-show event featuring Sanders, Johansson and Takeshi Kitano to unveil the trailer in November and holding the world premiere in Tokyo last month — the film is unlikely to finish with more than $15 million in its spiritual homeland of Japan.

In its favor, Ghost in the Shell is attracting better word of mouth and reviews in Japan than it has in the U.S. It currently has 3.5-star rating on Yahoo Movies Japan, which is, remarkably enough, higher than the 3.2 stars held by Mamoru Oshii's seminal 1995 anime. Meanwhile, on other review sites, the new version has scored 4 stars and ratings of up to 75 percent.

Of the tens of thousands of tweets in Japan about the new Paramount version, more than 80 percent have been positive. But therein lies part of the problem: the tweets are in the tens, not hundreds, of thousands. While Oshii's original Ghost in the Shell (Kokaku Kidotai) has an adoring cult following in Japan, it is a relatively small one. The film took in just $2.3 million at the Japanese box office in 1995, a figure surpassed by Sanders' version on Saturday and Sunday alone.

And with 22 years having passed since the release of the anime, and 28 years since Masamune Shirow's manga hit bookstores, its core (predominantly male) fans are now in their 30s and 40s. Ghost in the Shell doesn't have the family-friendliness of a Disney or a Hayao Miyazaki film, nor the appeal to teenagers that made Your Name such a phenomenon.

Even the presence of Johansson, a popular star in Japan who appears in local TV commercials, isn't going to bring the millions into theaters needed to make it into the kind of megahit that would help recover the reported $200 million Paramount, DreamWorks and its Chinese investors have sunk into the production and marketing of the project.

*This is funny to true ScarJo fans.