GHOST IN THE SHELL Casts Its Laughing Man
According to reports, the DreamWorks/Paramount adaptation of Ghost in the Shell is in talks to cast Michael Pitt as the villain known as the Laughing Man.
Pitt (Boardwalk Empire) would join Scarlett Johannson in the live-action version of the popular anime series, which has drawn fire for casting the Caucasian actress as the lead character, Major Motoko Kusanagi, an operative in the Japanese National Public Safety Commission.
The Laughing Man is considered “the ultimate hacker” and he has a fondness for the work of J.D. Salinger, specifically The Catcher in the Rye, a quote from which is part of his hacker logo. He’s capable of hijacking multiple video feeds at one time, as well as taking over a person’s cybernetic brain and removing his image from cybernetic eyes, all in real time.
Ghost in the Shell will arrive in theaters March 31, 2017. Rupert Sanders is directing.
