Hollywood has been threatening an adaptation of the manga Ghost In The Shell for a few years now, but after a long time in hibernation the project is now finally sticking its head out of the water once again. News has surfaced saying that The Wolf of Wall Street actress Margot Robbie in now in talks to star in the long-developing film, which currently has Snow White and the Huntsman director Rupert Sanders sitting at the helm.
While it was at one point Shutter Island screenwriter Laeta Kalogridis who was penning the screenplay for The Ghost In The Shell, those duties have now fallen to screenwriter Bill Wheeler, according to Deadline. Originally running from 1989 to 1997, the manga was set in the not-too-distant future and followed the missions of Public Security Section 9, a task force comprised of former detectives and military officers who specialize in rooting out all forms of corruption in the fictional Japanese metropolis New Port City. It's not specified in the article, but the Australian Robbie is presumably in talks to play Major Motoko Kusanagi, the cyborg leader of Public Security Section 9.
Since landing her breakout role as Leonardo DiCaprio's trophy wife in Martin Scorsese's crime comedy biopic, Robbie has been on an absolute tear picking up parts in high profile movies. She has already completed work on Glenn Ficarra and John Requa's Focus, the con artist caper that will see her star opposite Will Smith. She has also been recently delving into a bit of sci-fi with Chris Pine and Chiwetel Ejiofor (two veterans of the genre) to star in the post-apocalyptic story Z For Zachariah, which is being made by director Craig Zobel. She is currently playing Jane to Alexander Skarsgaard's Tarzan - literally - in director David Yates' adaptation of the legendary Edgar Rice Burroughs story.
In case you couldn't already tell, it would appear that the cast of Hollywood's Ghost In The Shell is going to be starring a non-Japanese actress in the lead role, and I imagine that that fact is going to anger a whole lot of people. Akira fans were certainly not happy when Warner Bros. started talking about casting a live-action adaptation with Garrett Hedlund and Kristen Stewart, and I somehow doubt they'll feel too much differently about this new casting news.
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