Ghost in the Shell Casts Michael Pitt as Villain

Michael Pitt will clash with Scarlett Johansson in the live-action (and decidedly Americanized) Ghost in the Shell movie. The film has been off and on in the works for several years at Dreamworks, and has recently been picking up steam.

Rupert Sanders is directing the film, and it's scheduled to release March 31, 2017.

Pitt will play The Laughing Man, THR reports, a character not from the original Ghost in the Shell anime film or manga, but from the later TV series, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. He's a high-end hacker, and keeps his face (and acts) hidden behind the logo seen above.

Scarlett Johansson is playing the lead role, though it's unclear if they'll be renaming her character, who in the manga and anime films and series is named Motoko Kusanagi, a Japanese operative.