Paramount and Dreamworks just released the first photo of Scarlett Johansson from Ghost in the Shell, the live action adaptation of the extremely popular anime.
Johansson's got her anime counterpart's hair down (well, aside from the fact that it's black and not purple), but that's probably where the similarities end. A major source of controversy since Johansson's casting was announced last year has been that the character she's playing, Motoko Kusanagi, is Japanese. Johansson is not Japanese. She is so not Japanese that there is another movie about how not Japanese she is (Lost in Translation).
But Johansson is a proven female action star, and Hollywood isn't in the business of taking risks on lesser-known Asian talent. Her character may not even be Japanese in the film version: the press release calls her “The Major,” and the movie is being filmed in New Zealand.
Ghost in the Shell will be released on March 31, 2017.