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Live-Action Ghost in the Shell Film's Japanese Dub Reunites Original Anime Cast

The official Japanese website of Paramount Pictures' live-action Ghost in the Shell film revealed on Friday that the Japanese dub of the film will feature Atsuko Tanaka, Akio Ohtsuka, and Kouichi Yamadera reprising their roles from Mamoru Oshii's Ghost in the Shell anime films and Kenji Kamiyama's Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex anime series. Tanaka (center in picture below) will play the Major, Ohtsuka (left) will play Batou, and Yamadera (right) will play Togusa.

A different cast voiced the two most recent anime projects, Ghost in the Shell Arise and Ghost in the Shell: The New Movie.

Paramount previously streamed a Japanese-subtitled trailer for the film on Tuesday that has narration by Yamadera.

Paramount Pictures also began streaming two new short English-language clips on Wednesday and Thursday for the film.

DreamWorks and Paramount are co-financing and co-producing the film. Paramount Pictures is the film's new distributor, after DreamWorks ended its distribution deal with Walt Disney Pictures. The film is currently slated for release on March 31. Principal photography began in Wellington, New Zealand in January 2016.

The film's Japanese title is "Ghost in the Shell" in the phonetic katakana alphabet, instead of the "Kōkaku Kidōtai" title in kanji (攻殻機動隊) that is the Japanese title of the other works in the franchise in Japan. The film will open in Japan on April 7.

Scarlett Johansson stars in the film as the Major, and Pilou Asbæk (Lucy) plays Batou. Michael Pitt (Boardwalk Empire) plays the Laughing Man. Director, comedian, and actor Beat Takeshi (also known as Takeshi Kitano) plays the Public Security Section 9 founder and chief Daisuke Aramaki.

French actress Juliette Binoche (2014's Godzilla, The English Patient, Chocolat) plays Dr. Ouelet, and Kaori Momoi (Sukiyaki Western Django, Memoirs of a Geisha, Helter Skelter) and Rila Fukushima (The Wolverine) also have roles in the film. The actors for the other Section 9 task force members are as follows: Lasarus Ratuere (Terra Nova) as Ishikawa, Tawanda Manyimo (The Rover) as Borma, Yutaka Izumihara (Unbroken) as Saito, Danusia Samal (Tyrant) as Ladriya, and Chin Han (Independence Day: Resurgence) as Togusa.

Rupert Sanders (Snow White and the Huntsman) is directing the film. Jonathan Herman (Straight Outta Compton) reworked the earlier drafts of the script written by William Wheeler (Hoax, The Reluctant Fundamentalist) and Jamie Moss (Street Kings). Weta Workshop and its co-founder Richard Taylor are working on the film.

Additional staff members include cinematographer Jess Hall (The Spectacular Now), editor Neil Smith (Snow White and the Huntsman), production designer Jan Roelfs (Fast & Furious 6), and costume designers Kurt Swanson and Bart Mueller (The Hunger Games: Mockingjay).

Source: Comic Natalie