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[KSweeley]

Link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry...-because-casting_us_58e486cbe4b0d0b7e1660b61?

An executive for Paramount, the studio behind the film, thinks that “Ghost in the Shell” performed so poorly because of the casting controversy that trailed the movie for years. After it was announced in late 2014 that Scarlett Johansson, a white actress, would be taking on the role of Major Motoko Kusanagi, critics complained that Hollywood was once again whitewashing a role that an Asian actress could’ve played.

“We had hopes for better results domestically. I think the conversation regarding casting impacted the reviews,” Paramount domestic distribution chief Kyle Davies told CBC News.

“You’ve got a movie that is very important to the fanboys since it’s based on a Japanese anime movie,” Davies added. “So you’re always trying to thread that needle between honoring the source material and make a movie for a mass audience. That’s challenging, but clearly the reviews didn’t help.”

 

[fwpx]

No way!

 

[BronsonLee]

I mean ya probably

 

[cdyhybrid]

Ah yes, the all-powerful Asian-American bloc.

 

[kmax]

If you don't believe in the fans, why should fans believe in you.

Don't treat people like dirt and expect results. Be respectful to the source by paying tribute to the original material and actually try to make a faithful adaption next time.

 

[Garruson]

Of course it is, take that out of the equation and the only problem is it doesn't explore themes as much as it could have done. The filming, and visuals and acting are all well enough - take all other context out and people viewing it wouldn't give it such harsh reviews.

 

[TheGeniusArcana]

Who could have guessed that bad things have bad effects??

Spoiler

That's not why it flopped, though.

 

[Platy]

Yes executive, the problem is the reviews. You got it exactly right.

 

[Sunster]

hopefully lessons have been learned.

 

[Grizzlyjin]

 

[blakep267]

Partly. But also I just don't think people cared. Maybe Lucy was just an anamoly and Johannsen isn't as big a draw as they thought

 

[Guevara]

"You've got a movie that is very important to the fanboys since it's based on a Japanese anime movie,"​

If only anime fanboys were into Asian actresses.....

 

[Rentahamster]

My fear is that their "honest" attempt to hire Asian actors will have a shitty script and/or director, which will lead them to say, "see that don't work either!". I hope that doesn't happen.

 

[EchoChamber]

Or maybe try to make a good movie.

 

[Wuthering_Heights]

Would have done even worse with an Asian lead, so I guess there wasn't anything they could have done.

 

[Garrett Hawke]

Imagine if the take away from this was casting more diverse leads

Instead it will probably be "only pick stories that had white people to begin with"

 

[Lebron]

Ah the O'l "making the movie for mass audience", aka making everyone important white, line eh?

 

[Permanently A]

“You’ve got a movie that is very important to the fanboys since it’s based on a Japanese anime movie,” Davies added. “So you’re always trying to thread that needle between honoring the source material and make a movie for a mass audience. That’s challenging, but clearly the reviews didn’t help.”

so apparently japanese actress = honoring the source material while white actress = movie for a mass audience

you can't make up this kind of fuckery

 

[- J - D -]

hopefully lessons have been learned.

Ha!

 

[volgihn]

It also failed because it's a bad movie. The pacing was terrible.

 

[Defuser]

"We tried to tell ya"

 

[PSqueak]

"it's because people made a stink, and not the casting choice! it was the complains about it, we did no wrong!"

That's what im getting.

 

[tuxfool]

hopefully lessons have been learned.

You didn't read their statement, did you?

 

[Meowster]

Probably had a part but the script and pacing were a mess that no actress could really fix. I think Johansson did the best with what she had.

 

[kewlmyc]

Probably would have flopped regardless, but at least if they push that whitewashing was the issue, we are less likely to have whitewashing like this happen more in the future.

 

[Violence Jack]

I thought the film was fine. A little boring in the middle to go along with that bullshit reveal at the end, but I don't think this was going to be a big draw regardless of who was in the lead role.

Another problem was that the supporting characters were far more interesting and better in their roles than ScarJo was as the star. Batou and Aramaki especially.

 

[CassidyIzABeast]

Paramount going the crying about whitewashing lead to it reviewing poorly route is a terrible decision. "It wasnt the movie being mediocre, it was the whitewashing controversy."

Not good.

 

[Into the Light]

Or maybe try to make a good movie.

I have to agree with this as the bottom line.

 

[efyu_lemonardo]

Yes executive, the problem is the reviews. You got it exactly right.

Alternate theory: the problem was low ticket sales.

 

[Mesoian]

I mean, no. It flopped because it's not good.

The whitewashing didn't help though.

As long as they have their eyes on the situation though, GITS is a fine sacrifice for the movement.

 

[Montresor]

“You’ve got a movie that is very important to the fanboys since it’s based on a Japanese anime movie"

This line is hilarious.

 

[johancruijff]

You’ve got a movie that is very important to the fanboys since it’s based on a Japanese anime movie

 

[Jaeger]

I still don't think they get it.

 

[Sunster]

You didn't read their statement, did you?

I did and it doesn't mean everyone at paramount feels that way.

 

[George Oscar Bluth II]

 

[Deadly Cyclone]

I don't think so. It hurt, for sure, but without ScarJo I feel like the movie would have done even worse. I'd have loved to see an up and coming Asian actor get their break, but without any star power at all I feel like it would have bombed harder. That being said, it did bomb so you might have well have had a person right for the role play Major...

I also feel like theaters didn't throw much weight behind it. It was at the smallest screen at our big theater.

 

[tuxfool]

Alternate theory: the problem was low ticket sales.

adjunct to poorly made and that it wasn't marketed properly. They didn't understand the base material to make an interesting film out of it.

 

[UristMcDwarf]

Am I reading it wrong, or is that quote trying to paint the picture that the movie flopped not because of the white washing, but that people called it white washing?

I have believed since the first time I heard the voice over saying "you are the first of your kind" that this movie wasn't going to accurately portray what made ghost in the shell a classic. Why didn't they just call in "CYBORG" or something?

 

[KSweeley]

I recently saw Ghost in the Shell and am a fan of Ghost in the Shell and the whole story of the movie was confusing to me. Bits were from the 1995 anime movie, bits were from the manga, bits were from Stand Alone Complex, the anime series.

I was like "What the fuck is this movie about???" In my opinion, just one source material should've been used for the story rather than using a conglomerate of the anime movie, manga and the anime series.

Then the part where ScarJo's character discovers she is actually a

Spoiler

Japanese runaway named Motoko Kusanagi

and Michael Pitt's character is actually

Spoiler

Hideo

, I was essentially going "What the hell?!?!? The director AND producers of this movie is seriously trying to explain the whitewashing of the Major and Kuze?!?!"

 

[tuxfool]

I did and it doesn't mean everyone at paramount feels that way.

But the ones making the decisions do.

 

[Gotdatmoney]

I say the movie. It was aight. That twist though, legit had me asking why Scarlette even was in the movie to begin with. I never watched the original series/movie. The movie really was disjointed as fuck despite being quite fun.

 

[cdyhybrid]

I did and it doesn't mean everyone at paramount feels that way.

Doesn't matter how most of the studio feels, it's the executives that are the problem. And they clearly haven't learned.

I don't think so. It hurt, for sure, but without ScarJo I feel like the movie would have done even worse. I'd have loved to see an up and coming Asian actor get their break, but without any star power at all I feel like it would have bombed harder. That being said, it did bomb so you might have well have had a person right for the role play Major...

I also feel like theaters didn't throw much weight behind it. It was at the smallest screen at our big theater.

Casting an Asian actress would have been a little more convincing that they were trying to stick to the source material at least, might have drawn in more of the core fans.

 

[MaddenNFL64]

I was surprised it tanked, thought the setting and Scarjo would at least make it do decently. I went opening weekend, and it was pretty damn empty. Was shocked to be honest.

I actually liked the movie for the most part my self, but I can see why critics panned it. It didn't do anything special. At all.

 

[ZealousD]

"You have a soul... a ghost. And we put it in a mechanical body... a shell."

Insulting audiences probably didn't help either.

 

[Frozenprince]

And as per usual, Hollywood learns the wrong lesson.

 

[supermarioworldE]

Gotta keep that status quo, Hollywood.

 

[BocoDragon]

If you'd taken out the "whitewashing excusing" subplot, cast a Japanese actress, and added in a little more philosophical introspection, this would have been a fine GITS movie. It's almost there on all the surface values... it just needed more of an intellectual soul. A little "Ex Machina" in it.

 

[efyu_lemonardo]

adjunct to poorly made film that wasn't marketed properly and didn't understand the base material to make an interesting film out of it.

You're over complicating: it flopped because of all the people who didn't go see it.

 

[Fancyarcher]

Partly. But also I just don't think people cared. Maybe Lucy was just an anamoly and Johannsen isn't as big a draw as they thought

Could be, could also be that the concept of a box office draw is dead, and people more sold on the concept of a film, then they are on who's in it (that's 99% the likeliest reason).

 

[Palette Swap]

To be fair, even if it's erroneous, if their takeaway is that whitewashing will lead to a worse performance than having non-white leads, it's a good thing.