Ghost in the Shell podcast with yours truly

I'll tell ya the truth, Paramount is blaming it on the white washing thing but I honestly think that was only a small part of that. Really I think it's financial failure was Paramount putting too much money into it. It made $170 Million dollars worldwide at the box office against a $110 Million dollar budget and quite frankly $170 Mill a hell of a lot more than I ever thought that a live action Ghost in the Shell would ever do given that it's based on a franchise that was actually initially a flop in it's native Japan and while it is a franchise that most anime fans in their mid 20s-30s know really well and to some degree film makers and film students know well, in the scale of mainstream general audiences it's a small cult thing at best. They say it would've had to have made $250 Million to break even after advertising costs and I just don't see how it could've ever done that much. If anything I kinda think the casting controversy might've helped it if anything since nobody was really talking about it AT ALL before that.
 
JamesYTP said:
I'll tell ya the truth, Paramount is blaming it on the white washing thing but I honestly think that was only a small part of that. Really I think it's financial failure was Paramount putting too much money into it. It made $170 Million dollars worldwide at the box office against a $110 Million dollar budget and quite frankly $170 Mill a hell of a lot more than I ever thought that a live action Ghost in the Shell would ever do given that it's based on a franchise that was actually initially a flop in it's native Japan and while it is a franchise that most anime fans in their mid 20s-30s know really well and to some degree film makers and film students know well, in the scale of mainstream general audiences it's a small cult thing at best. They say it would've had to have made $250 Million to break even after advertising costs and I just don't see how it could've ever done that much. If anything I kinda think the casting controversy might've helped it if anything since nobody was really talking about it AT ALL before that.
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Yeah. I think the problem with movies based on animes is that you need to have pre-information, which I hate to that. At least movies based on Marvel Comics, you can go in there without any knowledge of the series because they introduce everyone in it. Not saying that Ghost in the Shell did not do that - perhaps it did, but most likely did not appeal to the people. Even if it did not had any "white-washing" elements, the movie would still bomb.
 
I initially typed out something much more well thought out, but i accidentally deleted it so here's the best I can do.

I think part of the problem is this negative stereotype surrounding live action adaptions nowadays thanks to films like dragon ball and avatar. Its ironic though, since this film is the first of its kind to actually (albeit marginally) attempt to address the flaws and gripes that comes with making a live action adaption. I'm not saying it was a great movie, it is littered with shameless uplifts from the original movie even when it doesn't fit the narrative, but you have to give credit where its due and thats with its care of the whole nationality issue. Essentially, they do something really clever with peoples preconceived notions of the film and I was pleasantly surprised by it. It's a real shame though since so many ppl will nvr come to discover this and appreciate this small step in progress for the live action adaption part of the american film making industry.
 
Bumping this section, what do you think about the upcoming film, Battle Angel Alita? Do you think it will fall the same trap as Ghost in the Shell? :think:
 
I'm not quite sure. It would need to depend on whose hands are involved since the only reason Ghost in the Shell turned out as not-so-terrible as it had was because the people involved actually cared about what they were making.
 
I understand Robert Rodriguez is directing it, not sure what to make of that. Never actually read/watched it before so it's hard to say how he'll do but I saw the trailer in a theater and it looked pretty cool.
 
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