A First Look at Scarlett Johansson in DreamWorks' 'Ghost in the Shell'

Thanks to the likes of Under the Skin, Lucy and her turn as Black Widow in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Scarlett Johansson has been the big screen’s reigning female badass for years now. And now we have our first look at ScarJo’s latest sci-fi endeavor: Paramount and DreamWorks’ big screen adaptation of Ghost in the Shell. Now officially in production in Wellington, New Zealand, the flick will be directed by Rupert Sanders (Snow White and the Huntsman) and star Johansson as Major Motoko Kusanagi — the augmented-cybernetic human who leads the Section 9 special-ops task force in their search for the elusive hacker known as the Puppet Master and the uncovering of Project 2501.

As you might expect, the film is based on Masamune Shirow’s iconic manga series and 1995’s anime adaptation of the same name — a universally acclaimed adaptation still widely regarded as one of the greatest anime films of all time. Thankfully Mitsuhisa Ishikawa, who produced the both the aforementioned anime film and subsequent television series, is on board for the live-action remake — so here’s to hoping the film stays true to its roots.

Ghost in the Shell is currently slated to hit theaters March 31, 2017.