Rupert Sanders (Snow White and the Huntsman) has signed on to direct Ghost in the Shell for DreamWorks, breathing new life into a project that has been languishing in development for years.

The adaptation has long been a passion project for DreamWorks' Steven Spielberg, who acquired the property in 2008 and set Jamie Moss (Street Kings) to write the script. We reported in 2009 that Laeta Kalogridis signed on to write the adapted script, although that was the last we heard about the project. At the time, the studio made ambitious plans to shoot it in 3D, although it isn't known if they are still considering that approach.

The project is based on Masamune Shirow's original 1989 manga, which centers on a covert unit within the Japanese National Public Safety Commission, who fight tech-related crimes. The manga was adapted into the anime movies Ghost In The Shell, Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, Ghost in the Shell: Individual Eleven, Ghost in the Shell: Solid State Society, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - The Laughing Man and Ghost in the Shell 2.0. The manga also spawned an anime TV series and several video games.

William Wheeler (The Reluctant Fundamentalist, The Tourist, The Hoax) wrote the most recent version of the script, with Avi Arad, Ari Arad and Steven Paul producing. No production schedule was given.

Rupert Sanders has several projects in development, including 90 Church at Universal and a Napoleon Bonaparte project at Warner Bros., although it isn't certain which one he will take on next.