We haven't been given much when it comes to the live-action adaptation of Ghost in the Shell. We have seen an unofficial look at the cast, five teasers and other various items for the movie, but not too much on what it will be dealing with.
Thankfully the film's producer, Avi Arad, has filled us in on which storylines the film will be ignoring and which one it will be honing in on.
“We’re not doing Puppetmaster. It’s not Laughing Man. It involves Kuze. The Kuze story. The big thing we are doing here is that we’re not necessarily doing an origins backstory, but we are addressing her sense of self and resolving how she defines herself in terms of memories. That’s one of the main thrusts in the story. Inspired by that episode of Affection in Second Gig. It’s bits and pieces of those mixed together.”
But why didn't they do the Puppetmaster storyline? Well, luckily Arad offered an answer to that.
"I find that part of the reason we didn’t do Puppetmaster in this movie was we didn’t really feel like we had time to tell that story, and in your first movie the way the characters feel about themselves and the relationship with those people that they care about is usually more than enough story for a movie to handle. So there are villains and they do drive a lot of the story, but they are really there to antagonize her spiritually."
Arad went on to detail that the Geisha bot will be in the film, as well Ghost hacking.
"Ghost hacking is a big storyline in the movie and in some ways we take it even further. This idea of if someone could change your memories, what would that do to your sense of self? After you meet that garbageman and you see him in the interrogation room. You’re like ‘that guy’s gone’."
Check out the full interview on Collider.
Ghost in the Shell is set to release on March 31st, 2017, starring Scarlett Johansson as The Major, as well as Pilou Asbæk, Michael Pitt, Juliette Binoche, Kaori Momoi, Rila Fukushima, Chin Han, Danusia Samal, Lasarus Ratuere, Yutaka Izumihara, and Tuwanda Manyimo.
