Lack of A-list Asian stars: Landis on 'Ghost in the Sheel'

Hollywood screenwriter Max Landis says Scarlett Johansson was cast in the remake of classic Japanese anime "Ghost in the Shell" as there are no A-list female Asian celebrities that can get a major Hollywood movie green-lit.
Johansson's casting has sparked a lot of backlash on social media with fans and some Asian celebrities accusing the makers of "whitewashing" the movie by casting Johansson.
Landis took to YouTube on Friday to explain why studios chose Johansson over Asian actors for the part of cyborg policewoman Major Kusanagi in the movie.
"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, adding there were no "A-list female Asian celebrities" who could get a major Hollywood movie green-lit in 2016.

"It's infuriating. 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.
"That is not the fault of the movie industry, really. That's culture and movies getting more and more afraid because movies make less and less money," he said.

Landis, however, clarified later that his comments were not as a "defence" of Johansson's casting, saying he merely listed is "as a part of a system" that is not good to actors and minorities.

Actor Ming-Na Wen, the voice of Disney's Mulan, said while she was a fan of Johansson, she had "everything against this whitewashing of Asian role."
"Ghost in the Shell" is directed by Rupert Sanders.