Scarlett Johansson has enjoyed an immense amount of success, recently portraying S.H.I.E.L.D.’s femme fatale, Black Widow in several Marvel Studios movies. Her other action film, Lucy, also proved to be a triumphant venture into action films, grossing over $126 million in the U.S. Johansson is continuing to follow her action film trend with a film adaptation of the beloved anime, Ghost in the Shell. Learn more about her role after the break.

Cast in the role of Motoko, an augmented-cybernetic human law enforcement officer, Scarlett Johansson continues to stretch her already broad acting chops. It will be interesting to see how this live-action version of the Ghost in the Shell anime will be translated to the big screen for the general public not accustom to such niche audiences. Big screen adaptations of anime series such as 2009’s Dragonball Evolution and the Wachowski’s Speed Racer starring Emile Hirsch did not score big with moviegoers in the US. However, on the other side of the globe, the live-action adaptation of the mega-popular Attack on Titan series has been growing anticipation in fans in Japan for quite some time.

At the very least, Johansson’s star power is sure to be a contributing factor to bring audiences to the theaters. With her ongoing success portraying Black Widow in the Iron Man 2, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and The Avengers, Johansson has been on a career high.

In tandem with the already established success of Ghost in the Shell, Johansson received an immense amount of critical acclaim for her voice acting as a sentient operating system in the Academy Award-winning Spike Jonze film Her. Fans of Ghost in the Shell know that technology – artificial intelligence in particular – plays in integral role in the plot so this is rather similar to the subject matter. She also starred as a cold and emotionless alien in the critically acclaimed indie Under the Skin. Here’s a brief description of the 1995 anime film that this live-action version will be based on, courtesy of IMDb.com:

A female cyborg cop and her partner hunt a mysterious and powerful hacker called the Puppet Master.”

So what is next for Johansson? She has proven that she can translate a comic book character to the big screen, perhaps the same will be true for manga and anime? Could this also mean more anime-related work for Johansson for the future?

Ghost in the Shell will be released in theaters on April 14, 2017.

Source: Variety