Marvel has definitely launched the age of the comic book movie; franchises weren’t being taken as seriously they are today. It’s even managed to work its way onto television with programs like: Peggy Carter, The Flash, and even iZombie are programs coming this fall. Video games are trying to break into the pop culture zeitgeist with Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Need for Speed, and in the works is Assassin’s Creed starring Michael Fassbender – who also seen success in the comic book movie realm.

It’s all well and good that video games and movies are getting their time to shine, but it’s the anime/manga movie adaptations that are bottom rung right now. Hopefully you don’t remember Dragonball: Evolution or The Last Airbender. Don’t worry my skin crawled too, but I’ve made my point. James Cameron has been talking about adapting Battle Angel, which could be cool, but we haven’t heard much on the development front. Every couple of years we get rumored news of a live action Akira movie, which only seems to ruffling feathers among die hard anime fans.

DreamWorks is on the move taking steps to bring Ghost in the Shell to the big screen. Some of you are probably already picketing this movie wait until you see Project 2501. A reference to the Puppet Master from the original animated movie, Project 2501 is a fan film, which looks better than a lot of big budget films today. GitS takes place in a world where everything is networked to the net, which is why it’s so cool to hear the 20 artists working on the project have never actually met. In a true meta moment they experience a connection to each other via the net adding another layer to the project. Their goal is to recreate the original movie shot for shot as an homage to Shirow Masamune’s manga and Mamoru Oshii’s film. Their love for the franchise is tangible, which creates an authenticity, allowing it to come through in the final product or a labor of love if you will.

The sci-fi movie centers on Major Kusanagi and her counter-terrorist team Section 9 tracking down an elusive hacker only known as the Puppet Master. In the chaos and action the film explores philosophical concepts like what is the soul, what does it mean to be human, and AI/cybernetics being the next step in human evolution.

The behind-the-scenes video gives us a look at the famous opening sequence where Major Motoko Kusanagi is created. Seeing the work poured into this first sequence is mind-boggling, but the glimpses of the finished product will take your breath away. Be warned the video is Not Safe For Work (NSFW), and be sure to stick around after the credits.

I don’t know how long it will take for them to finish this project, but I’m sure it will be worth the wait. If you’ve seen the movie then you know it’s a visually stunning, thought-provoking, and an eerie representation of how integrated technology has become in our everyday lives. So an upgrade is not only fitting, but like all technology seems to be the next logical step. These are some of the more family friendly images from the site but check out the other screen shots at their website GitS2501.

Check out that attention to detail here’s a side by side comparison of the animation and the CGI…Hollywood you should be taking notes.

The writer of this piece was:



Laurence Almalvez

Laurence has previously written over at Whatculture.com.

Laurence tweets from @IL1511