Unhappy fans have started a petition to replace Scarlet Johansson as the lead in DreamWorks' live action movie adaptation of the classic manga and anime series, Ghost in the Shell

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The creators calls for the studio to "stop whitewashing Asian characters," citing Ghost in the Shell character Major Motoko Kusanagi. [: It's not known which character Scarlett Johansson will play in the film; an earlier version of this report claimed she was playing Kusanagi.) The petition has already received over 29,000 signatures and is just shy of reaching its goal of 30,000.Here is an excerpt from the petition:"The original film is set in Japan, and the major cast members are Japanese. So why would the American remake star a white actress? The industry is already unfriendly to Asian actors without roles in major films being changed to exclude them. One recent survey found that in 2013, Asian characters made up only 4.4% of speaking roles in top-grossing Hollywood films.Dreamworks could be using this film to help provide opportunities for Asian-American actors in a market with few opportunities for them to shine -- please sign the petition asking them to reconsider casting Scarlett Johansson in Ghost in the Shell and select actors who are truer to the cast of the original film!"Ghost in the Shell centers on Kusanagi, a member of a security unit that specializes in technology-related crimes that is tasked with hunting down a mysterious hacker.The film is set to open April 14, 2017 , with Rupert Sanders (Snow White and the Huntsman) set to direct.

Rachel is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow her on Twitter at @haasrachel