(FROM VARIETY) – DreamWorks has acquired rights to the Japanese manga Ghost in the Shell and plans to develop it into a live-action feature. Steven Spielberg, who took personal interest in the property, is said to have played an integral role in the deal. The story is about a member of a covert ops unit of the Japanese National Public Safety Commission that specializes in fighting technology-related crime. Masamune Shirow's Ghost in the Shell was first published in 1989 and has gone on to spawn two additional manga editions, three anime films, an anime TV series, and three videogames. The second anime, Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, was released in the U.S. by DreamWorks in 2004.
Seriously, don't you love it when people spend a lot of time and money on things that are pointless? I don't doubt Spielberg can do something good here, but still.
*Clarification: I'm distressed not because I think Ghost in the Shell is pointless - I love it. It's absolutely brilliant. What I'm distressed about is that there's no need for a live-action version. It's almost as useless as the upcoming official re-make of The Seven Samurai - one of the greatest films ever made. As they say, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
3 comments:
totally agreed. But if you have scads of money and your personal itch is filmamking - how could you watch 'Ghost in the Shell' and not want to try it yourself? Because... it hasn't been done in English... therefore...
glory, glory! I will watch this film at least once.
As opposed to same language remakes of classic films (Madonna wants do Casablanca!?) cross culture remakes have much more to bring to the table. How will Spielberg interpret this story? What will he accent? What will he ignore? It becomes a dialogue which can actually stengthen the original at the same time as doing something completely unique. This can especially true when transferring mediums as well as languages.
So I say "glory, glory!"
my concern is, it's not just a transfer of language. Ghost in the Shell is, at its very heart, extremely Japanese. the interactions, issues, and characters are all rather pure, unadulterated, Japanese. it is accessible to us because it's so well done, but it is so truly foreign i don't see it converting to a U.S. template and retaining what makes it great. anyone who's seen both The Seven Samurai and its american "remake" The Magnificent Seven should understand my suspicion of trying to take something so thoroughly Japanese and turn in into something thoroughly American. the magnificent seven was a tragedy/travesty - a horrible film, largely because the issues explored in seven samurai were unique to japanese culture. this is what i fear with a western revision of GITS.
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