• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Scarlett Johansson offered lead role in Ghost in the Shell live action film

Status
Not open for further replies.
N

Not

Banned
And don't give me that "average American is white" BS. You think when Hispanics overtake whites in the states in like, 5 years that Hollywood will start casting Latinos in lead roles?
 
S

Sean*O

Member
Why the outrage over a non-Asian lead? As far as I can recall, none of the characters in that anime looked anything even close to being Asian.
 
R

Razgriz-Specter

Member
Not said:
And don't give me that "average American is white" BS. You think when Hispanics overtake whites in the states in like, 5 years that Hollywood will start casting Latinos in lead roles?
Click to expand...
sadly probably not for a while, they are just now starting to care about countries outside the US as well.
 
B

BeatResetsTheWorld

Banned
Sean*O said:
Why the outrage over a non-Asian lead? As far as I can recall, none of the characters in that anime looked anything even close to being Asian.
Click to expand...

Maybe Togusa I could agree with but this guy doesn't look Asian to you?!

Sac3x05.jpg
 
C

Camp Lo

Banned
Crewnh said:
Should I be happy that scarlett johanssen is going to make a bastardized version of gits sell?

It's easy to throw this on the whitewashed pile because thats what it is and always will be

Everything is manufactured in hollywood. The propopgation of the status quo is on sleazy execs. Minority actors and actresses won't bring an audience because they don't ever get the chance to begin with. having leading roles for even ones that are made for them being taken by white dudes and dudedettes, it's hilarious
Click to expand...

From a business standpoint, it's a no brainer to get her to do this movie. Whether she'll be great as Mokoto is besides the point. Looking at her iMDB, if they could get this out around Black Widow, that alone will push ticket sales on a movie that might otherwise be ignored.
 
N

NotTheGuyYouKill

Member
If they're setting the story in America, is it really a big surprise they cast a blonde white actor?

I'd rather they gone with Margot though.

Or... Maggie Q.

I'll be honest, I know nothing about Ghost in the Shell
 
S

Sean*O

Member
Not said:
That's because you're not Asian. Why do the Simpsons look white to you?
Click to expand...

Are you suggesting that Asian people see every likeness as Asian, just because they are Asian? You're projecting with the Simpsons bit, I never mentioned the Simpsons and not sure what you're going for there.
 
M

magenta

Member
I would have thought that it would that this role would have been an ideal candidate for a chinese actress to cash in on that market. In the end they will probably strip everything that makes GITS what it is to make you wonder why they bothered basing the movie of the IP in the first place.

How long till they change the name Motoko Kusanagi? It probably sounds too foriegn for a studio executives liking.
 
D

duckroll

Member
TheKaeptain said:
Motoko is supposed to be Asian. That's for damn sure.
Click to expand...

Are you sure? Not all futurologists are certain that asians will even be "asian" in the future. They could be white, while those with asian genetics could make up a sub-class in society of servants and slaves. I'm confident that Hollywood has researched this carefully and are taking a creative risk here based on probability rather than just being insensitive. Just like how Ridley Scott did careful research while making Exodus, before deciding to cast all his lead roles as white men and women!

:p
 
N

NotTheGuyYouKill

Member
magenta said:
I would have thought that it would that this role would have been an ideal candidate for a chinese actress to cash in on that market. In the end they will probably strip everything that makes GITS what it is to make you wonder why they bothered basing the movie of the IP in the first place.

How long till they change the name Motoko Kusanagi? It probably sounds too foriegn for a studio executives liking.
Click to expand...

It'll be Miranda Katek.
 
T

TheKaeptain

Banned
BeatResetsTheWorld said:
I could actually see that too. But really, the other members also came off as fairly Asian to me
Click to expand...

Oh yeah. Batou and Togusa do have a slight difference in character design like the shape of their chin. Maybe that's just an anime thing I have never read the manga.

Daisuke, the Major, and everyone else have always looked Asian to me.
 
W

whatever77

Banned
Not said:
Because there are no Asian women in the USA
Click to expand...

Are you 13? The biggest asian female actress can't sell a Hollywood action movie. With an Asian female lead, the box office will b eat best 20 million if you count the whole world together and maybe China BO twice over.

A 100-million dollar budget action movie need a big enough name to carry the budget. Frankly Scarjo is only barely big enough to carry it herself. Ideally JLaw would be a more guaranteed name. Scarjo probably need a big enough male lead to help her. Someone like in Colin Farrell's caliber. Won't worry Hollywood will butcher GitS's script to put a Colin Farrell type character in it, if they need to.
 
N

NotTheGuyYouKill

Member
whatever77 said:
Are you 13? The biggest asian female actress can't sell a Hollywood action movie. The box office will beat best 20 million if you count the whole together and maybe China BO twice.

A 100-million dollar budget action movie need a big enough name to carry the budget. Frankly Scarjo is only barely big enough to carry it herself. Ideally JLaw would be more guaranteed name. Scarjo probably need a big enough male lead to help her. Someone like in Colin Farrell's caliber. Won't worry Hollywood will butcher GitS's script to put a Colin Farrell type character in it, if they need to.
Click to expand...

J.Law.............

Um.

I would hope not. To date I have not been particularly impressed by her in anything.
 
S

Sean*O

Member
BeatResetsTheWorld said:
Maybe Togusa I could agree with but this guy doesn't look Asian to you?!

Sac3x05.jpg
Click to expand...

Could be, but could also be looked at differently. It's not so clear cut that if a non-Asian got cast I'd get all bent out of shape.

I don't like racial discussions, they really aren't relevant. If the people cast are Asian, Dutch, Spanish, English or whatever shouldn't matter as long as they are somewhat faithful to the look of the animated character.
 
D

dimb

Bjergsen is the greatest midlane in the world
whatever77 said:
Are you 13? The biggest asian female actress can't sell a Hollywood action movie. The box office will beat best 20 million if you count the whole together and maybe China BO twice.

A 100-million dollar budget action movie need a big enough name to carry the budget. Frankly Scarjo is only barely big enough to carry it herself. Ideally JLaw would be more guaranteed name. Scarjo probably need a big enough male lead to help her. Someone like in Colin Farrell's caliber. Won't worry Hollywood will butcher GitS's script to put a Colin Farrell type character in it, if they need to.
Click to expand...
Just like Tom Cruise turned Edge of Tomorrow into a box office smash bit.
 
Zoe

Zoe

Member
Sean*O said:
Are you suggesting that Asian people see every likeness as Asian, just because they are Asian? You're projecting with the Simpsons bit, I never mentioned the Simpsons and not sure what you're going for there.
Click to expand...

The point is that generically stylized characters are meant to represent the setting.

Or do you want all anime characters to have slanted eyes, yellowish tones, and straight jet black hair?
 
J

- J - D -

Member
What'd be amazing is if they kept her Japanese name for the role to be played by a Caucasian actress like Scarlet. Motoko is Japanese, but she is a cyborg, and I remember her saying that very little of her is actually her original body. So the execs and writers have an out, but could you imagine the blowback?
 
W

WrenchNinja

Member
Sean*O said:
Are you suggesting that Asian people see every likeness as Asian, just because they are Asian? You're projecting with the Simpsons bit, I never mentioned the Simpsons and not sure what you're going for there.
Click to expand...
Oh wow

You were serious

does every one need to have really small eyes and stereotypical racist asian features for you to think they're Asian or do you just automatically assume someone named Motoko Kusanagi or Daisuke Aramaki being police officers in tokyo japan arent actually japanese and are in actuality white

I feel like I'm reliving The Last Airbender casting threads again
 
R

royalan

Member
whatever77 said:
Are you 13? The biggest asian female actress can't sell a Hollywood action movie. With an Asian female lead, the box office will b eat best 20 million if you count the whole world together and maybe China BO twice over.

A 100-million dollar budget action movie need a big enough name to carry the budget. Frankly Scarjo is only barely big enough to carry it herself. Ideally JLaw would be a more guaranteed name. Scarjo probably need a big enough male lead to help her. Someone like in Colin Farrell's caliber. Won't worry Hollywood will butcher GitS's script to put a Colin Farrell type character in it, if they need to.
Click to expand...

First the excuse was "women can't sell big-budget action movies."

Then, when that was thoroughly proven wrong, the excuse I guess is now, "Asian women can't sell big-budget action movies."

Would be nice if studios had the balls to prove that one just as wrong.
 
Wiktor

Wiktor

Member
Not said:
Because there are no Asian women in the USA
Click to expand...

No, because white is the biggest group in USA. Motoko was from the biggest ethnic group in her original country too.

That said, the reality is that GiTS movie will be expensive to make and needs a star in the lead. THere are asian women in USA, sure, but there are no asian stars. If you want more diversity, you're barking on the wrong tree. Superproductions will always try the safest way to make money. More diversity needs to start from tv and lower budget. But then you have incredible action series like Nikita, with asian lead, which flop horribly rating wise, so maybe the audience just isn't ready yet.
 
K

Korigama

Member
whatever77 said:
Are you 13? The biggest asian female actress can't sell a Hollywood action movie. With an Asian female lead, the box office will b eat best 20 million if you count the whole world together and maybe China BO twice over.

A 100-million dollar budget action movie need a big enough name to carry the budget. Frankly Scarjo is only barely big enough to carry it herself. Ideally JLaw would be a more guaranteed name. Scarjo probably need a big enough male lead to help her. Someone like in Colin Farrell's caliber. Won't worry Hollywood will butcher GitS's script to put a Colin Farrell type character in it, if they need to.
Click to expand...
Lucy has made more than $400 million worldwide so far, without her "needing help from a big enough male lead".
 
S

SCULLIBUNDO

Banned
WonkersTHEWatilla said:
What'd be amazing is if they kept her Japanese name for the role to be played by a Caucasian actress like Scarlet. Motoko is Japanese, but she is a cyborg, and I remember her saying that very little of her is actually her original body. So the execs and writers have an out, but could you imagine the blowback?
Click to expand...

A single, sweaty tear, unseen in an ocean of money made from audiences who don't give a fuck where the actress in the movie was born.
 
B

BeatResetsTheWorld

Banned
Can I actually see some big budget movies that risked no name actors, reviewed well, and bombed? Seriously, name even 5. It should be easy if it's such an obvious thing to happen
 
T

ThoseDeafMutes

Member
duckroll said:
Are you sure? Not all futurologists are certain that asians will even be "asian" in the future. They could be white, while those with asian genetics could make up a sub-class in society of servants and slaves. I'm confident that Hollywood has researched this carefully and are taking a creative risk here based on probability rather than just being insensitive. Just like how Ridley Scott did careful research while making Exodus, before deciding to cast all his lead roles as white men and women!

:p
Click to expand...

Japan is a very ethnically homogeneous setting, so it's actually a somewhat interesting question as to whether it would be more "accurate" to cast everyone as European or Asian ethnicities if you wanted to transpose it to an American setting.
 
W

whatever77

Banned
royalan said:
First the excuse was "women can't sell big-budget action movies."

Then, when that was thoroughly proven wrong, the excuse I guess is now, "Asian women can't sell big-budget action movies."

Would be nice if studios had the balls to prove that one just as wrong.
Click to expand...

First of all, FYI I am Asian. Secondly, its the studio's money. If its your lotto money or a Japanese company want to do it with a Asian lead, they are more than welcomed to cast a Japaness actress.

If you don't want to face the fact that the international movie market is racist, yes I can tell you right now its racist. Asking a movie studio to invest ridiculous amount of movie to battle racism is unrealistic.

And lastly, why the fuck does Motoko need to be an Asian? Her whole body is artificial.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

Paul Walter Houser offered lead role for Tarantino’s last film
Rumor
30
3K
Editaur replied
The Last of Us on HBO Rumored to Have Offered Mahershala Ali Lead Role as Joel
41
3K
GeorgPrime replied
Alone in the Dark | Review Thread
Analysis Review 2 3
136
8K
Alan Wake replied
[GI.biz] Analysts offer predictions for 2023 in games
16
2K
Magic Carpet replied
Disney’s Live-Action ‘Peter Pan’ Movie Finds Its Wendy and Peter (Spoiler alert: Peter Pan isn't a redhead anymore)
Clickbait Cringe
20
3K
Doom85 replied
Top Bottom