Paramount and DreamWorks’ “Ghost in the Shell” has cast its first Japanese actor, as Beat Takeshi Kitano will join Scarlett Johansson in the studios’ adaptation of the popular Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masamune Shirow, it was announced Thursday.
Rupert Sanders will direct the film, which Paramount will release in the U.S. on March 31, 2017.
Based on the internationally-acclaimed sci-fi property, “Ghost in the Shell” follows a female special ops cyborg who leads an elite task force called Section 9. Section 9 is devoted to stopping the most dangerous criminals and extremists, led by an enemy whose singular goal is to wipe out Hanka Robotic’s advancements in cyber technology.