Scarlett Johansson sci-fi “Ghost in the Shell” casts 1st Japanese actorMarch 4, 2016 - 10:44 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Paramount and DreamWorks’ “Ghost in the Shell” has cast its first Japanese actor, as Beat Takeshi Kitano will join Scarlett Johansson in the studios’ adaptation of the popular Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masamune Shirow, it was announced Thursday, March 4, according to TheWrap. Rupert Sanders will direct the film, which Paramount will release in the U.S. on March 31, 2017. Based on the internationally-acclaimed sci-fi property, “Ghost in the Shell” follows a female special ops cyborg who leads an elite task force called Section 9. Section 9 is devoted to stopping the most dangerous criminals and extremists, led by an enemy whose singular goal is to wipe out Hanka Robotic’s advancements in cyber technology. Kitano will play Daisuke Aramaki, the founder and leader of the elite unit Section 9 tasked with protecting the world from the most dangerous technological threats. “Ghost in the Shell” is produced by Avi Arad, Ari Arad and Steven Paul. Michael Costigan, Tetsu Fujimura and Mitsuhisa Ishikawa, whose animation studio Production I.G produced the Japanese “Ghost in the Shell” film and TV series. Jeffrey Silver will executive produce. “This film tells the story of mankind in the near future in a unique setting. My role Aramaki is a unique and attractive character. The story revolves around the human relationships of the characters,” said Kitano. “This film will be stylish and entertaining, which is completely different from the type of movies I direct myself. This excited me and was the reason I decided to participate in this film.” Kitano’s most recent Hollywood film was “Johnny Mnemonic,” in which he co-starred with Keanu Reeves. Photo: Ken Ishii/Getty Images Top stories Paris Center Pompidou Musée National d’Art Moderne will host the screening of Sergei Parajanov’s "Triptych" on December 15. The creative crew of the Public TV had chosen 13-year-old Malena as a participant of this year's contest. She called on others to also suspend their accounts over the companies’ failure to tackle hate speech. Penderecki was known for his film scores, including for William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist”, Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining”. Partner news | Armenia to participate in key EU meeting for the first time ever National Assembly speaker Alen Simonyan has said that Armenia will for the first time participate in the Conference. U.S. reacts to Russia’s criticism of upcoming Armenia-EU-U.S. meeting Matthew Miller has weighed in on Russia’s criticism of an upcoming Armenia-EU-U.S. meeting. Lavrov sees ‘collapse’ of Russia’s ties with Armenia Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has underscored heightened tensions between Russia and Armenia. Russia clarifying reports on Baku’s alleged arms supply to Ukraine Russia says is carefully working to verify reports about alleged arms supplies from Azerbaijan to Ukraine |