The screenwriter – who is not associated with the anime remake – has weighed into the ‘whitewashing’ debate and said dearth of high-profile Asian stars is result of a ‘broken system’

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

The Hollywood screenwriter Max Landis has denied defending the casting of Scarlett Johansson in a “whitewashed” remake of the classic Japanese anime Ghost in the Shell.

Landis, writer of films such as Chronicle and American Ultra, took to YouTube on Friday to explain why studios chose Johansson over Asian actors for the part of cyborg policewoman Major Kusanagi in the controversial live action reworking.

“The only reason to be upset about Scarlett Johansson being in Ghost in the Shell is if you don’t know how the movie industry works,” he said, arguing that there were no “A-list female Asian celebrities” capable of getting a major Hollywood movie green-lit in 2016.

“It’s infuriating,” added Landis. “There used to be, in the 90s, diversity in our A-list actors. Jackie Chan and Jet Li were famous at the same time, they could both get movies made. We don’t have that guy any more, we don’t even have Lucy Liu any more.

Why Max Landis is wrong about Scarlett Johansson's 'whitewashed' Ghost in the Shell remake Read more

“That is not the fault of the movie industry, really,” continued the film-maker. “That’s culture and movies getting more and more afraid because movies make less and less money.”

The blogosphere hummed with articles describing Landis’ comments as a “defence” of Johansson’s casting over the weekend. But the screenwriter later took to Twitter to angrily deny such a reading.

“NO I FUCKING DON’T [defend it] he wrote in response to an Indiewire post about a recent article. “I list it as PART OF A BROKEN SYSTEM that FUCKS OVER ACTORS and MINORITIES.”

Max Landis (@Uptomyknees) NO I FUCKING DON'T.

I list it as PART OF A BROKEN SYSTEM that FUCKS OVER ACTORS and MINORITIES. https://t.co/pbUmNlU2MT

Max Landis (@Uptomyknees) It's like how are you able to take SUCH UNBELIEVABLY TOXIC surface reads of things? Do you just not care about detail or complexity?

Johansson was plunged into a fresh Twitter storm over her casting in the Hollywood remake on Thursday after the first image of the Hollywood star as Kusanagi hit the web. High-profile critics included the actor Ming-Na Wen, the voice of Disney’s Mulan, who said she had “everything against this whitewashing of Asian role”.

Ming-Na Wen (@MingNa) Nothing against Scarlett Johansson. In fact, I'm a big fan. But everything against this Whitewashing of Asian role.😒 https://t.co/VS6r6iish9

Adding to the controversy, fan blog Screencrush alleged on Friday that studios Paramount and DreamWorks commissioned visual effects tests that would’ve altered Johansson in post-production to make her appear more “Asian”. Paramount has denied the tests, which were “immediately” abandoned, involved Johansson.

Ghost in the Shell, with Snow White and the Huntsman’s Rupert Sanders in charge of the cameras, is due out in the UK on 31 March 2017, with US multiplexes seeing the film a fortnight later.

