Producer defends ScarJo's 'whitewashed' casting in 'Ghost in the Shell'

Scarlett Johansson's casting in the upcoming big screen adaptation of the Japanese anime franchise 'Ghost in the Shell' drew a lot of criticism and now, one of the producers has addressed the controversy.

Speaking to Buzzfeed, producer Steven Paul finally defended the casting that was branded as another "Hollywood whitewashing," saying fans are "going to end up being really happy with it."

"They're going to be very, very happy with it when they see what we've actually done with it," he said, adding, "And I don't think anybody's going to be disappointed."

Paul also detailed how the 31-year-old actress' character, called Major Kusanagi, is only referred to as 'The Major,' while the film's setting won't necessarily be the city of Niihama but "an international world."

He noted, "There (are) all sorts of people and nationalities in the world in Ghost in the Shell. We're utilising people from all over the world. There's Japanese in it. There's Chinese in it. There's English in it. There's Americans in it."

Another argument against the casting is that the story is inherently Japanese, but for Paul, "Ghost in the Shell was a very international story, and it wasn't just focused on Japanese; it was supposed to be an entire world. That's why I say the international approach is, I think, the right approach to it."

The film is set to hit the UK theatres on 31 March, 2017.