Walt Disney Pictures has pushed the release of their live action Ghost in the Shell remake up two weeks, from April 14, 2017 to March 31, 2017. The release date shift was most likely in response to Universal Pictures setting Fast & Furious 8 for release on April 14, 2017 last week. In its new March 31, 2017 release slot, Ghost in the Shell, starring Scarlett Johansson, will go up against Sony's Untitled Smurfs Movie, and it will open one week after The Divergent Series: Allegiant: Part 2 hits theaters on March 24, 2017.

Ghost in the Shell is based on the wildly popular anime series that centers on a team of covert agents who specialize in fighting cyber crime. The original series spawned a number of anime movies such as Ghost In The Shell (1996), Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence (2004), Ghost in the Shell: Individual Eleven (2005), Ghost in the Shell: Solid State Society (2006) and Ghost in the Shell 2.0. No other cast members besides Scarlett Johansson have been announced at this time.

Rupert Sanders (Snow White and the Huntsman) is set to direct from a screenplay by Bill Wheeler. Avi Arad and Steven Paul are producing and Mark Sourian is serving as an executive producer. Scarlett Johansson revealed in a recent interview that shooting will begin in either January or February 2016, so stay tuned for more updates on Ghost in the Shell.