Last week, Scarlett Johansson was officially confirmed as the star of Disney's adaptation of Masamune Shirow's GHOST IN THE SHELL, a mere 2 months after it had originally been reported. Now, Disney has penciled in a release date for the film, so we can set our countdown clocks to go off just over two years and three months from now.
Rupert Sanders' film will be released in 3D nationwide on April 14th, 2017, a week after PACIFIC RIM 2 and a week prior to an as-yet-untitled Universal monster flick (very possibly another WOLF MAN). If all three flicks live up to their respective potentials, April '17 could turn out to be one geektastic month of cinema (leading up to GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY 2 in the first week of May).
There's been a lot of doubt as to whether this flick will either a. satisfy the longtime fands of the original manga and anime or b. be mainstream enough to intrigue the mallgoers who have never heard of the IP. I have to hope for the best, if only for the notion of a full-on, no-holds-barred live-action version of Shirow and Mamoru Oshii's original imagery.
How will this cyberpunk stuff work in our modern age, where cybercrimes are as prevalent, dangerous, and frighteningly real as ever before? Color me curious...
GHOST IN THE SHELL hunts down the Puppet Master on April 14th, 2017.
