Ghost In The Shell Premiers

You all set for Ghost in the Shell? We sure are! How about we get you started with some fun facts about the movie you probably didn’t know.

Margot Robbie was considered for the lead role. However, negotiations broke down and the role was offered to Scarlett Johansson.

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA – MARCH 17: Scarlett Johansson takes a selfie with fan the Korean Red Carpet Fan Event of the Paramount Pictures release “Ghost In The Shell” at Lotte World Tower Mall on March 17, 2017 in Seoul, South Korea.

This film’s production was met with controversy over the choice to cast the lead role of Major Motoko Kusanagi (a Japanese character in the original source material and previous adaptations) as white, with the role going to Scarlett Johansson. Online protests over Hollywood whitewashing flared up in April 2016 when Paramount Pictures released the first promotional image of Johansson in costume.

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA – MARCH 17: .(L-R) Pilou Asbaek, Scarlett Johansson, Juliette Binoche and Director Rupert Sanders attend the Korean Red Carpet Fan Event of the Paramount Pictures release “Ghost In The Shell” at Lotte World Tower Mall on March 17, 2017 in Seoul, South Korea.

Three of the cast members have also taken part on Game of Thrones. This includes Pilou Asbæk, Joseph Naufahu and Rila Fukushima. They respectively portrayed Euron Greyjoy, Khal Moro and a Red Priestess.

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA – MARCH 17: Scarlett Johansson attends the Korean Red Carpet Fan Event of the Paramount Pictures release “Ghost In The Shell” at Lotte World Tower Mall on March 17, 2017 in Seoul, South Korea.

Scarlett Johansson doesn’t wear a black wig in the movie and it is her own hair, which was dyed black for the film.

Scarlett Johansson and Rila Fukushima attend the Ghost in the Shell Fan Event at Tabloid in Tokyo, Japan November 13, 2016

This is the second cyberpunk movie that Scarlett Johansson stars in. Her first role was in the 2005 movie The Island as Jordan Two Delta.Also, this is not Johansson’s first movie role where she appears nude. She also starred in the 2013 movie Under the Skin, where she played the role of Laura, an alien in human form.

TOKYO, JAPAN – NOVEMBER 13: The costume for the film is on display during the global trailer launch for Paramount Pictures’ ‘Ghost in the Shell’ at the Tabloid on November 13, 2016 in Tokyo, Japan.

Sam Riley was in talks for the role of the Laughing Man, but Michael Pitt was finally cast.

*TOKYO, JAPAN – NOVEMBER 13: The atmosphere during the global trailer launch for Paramount Pictures’ ‘Ghost in the Shell’ at the Tabloid on November 13, 2016 in Tokyo, Japan.*

The film’s villain was originally intended to be the Laughing Man, the antagonist hacker of the first season of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (2002), but has been changed to the second season’s antagonist, Hideo Kuze, to help make the story more personal for the Major, as they both had a past together on the series.

The third science fiction film which Scarlett Johansson has black hair. The first science fiction film was Under the Skin. However in Lucy, Johansson’s character Lucy Miller wears a black wig as a disguise.

Ghost in the Shell opens in cinemas 30 Apr

Images courtesy of United International Pictures Singapore