12 Biggest Box Office Flops Of 2017 (So Far)
4. Ghost In The Shell
Unfortunately for Paramount, its live-action adaptation of
Masamune Shirow’s manga was pretty much doomed from the start.
Way before its release, the casting of the bankable but very white Scarlett Johansson as Ghost in the Shell’s traditionally Asian protagonist Major had already riled fans of Shirow’s source material and a subsequent marketing campaign involving a meme generator and the hashtag #IAmMajor backfired when fans used it to protest the controversial casting.
A disappointing opening weekend at the domestic box office was followed by underperformance at the Chinese and Japanese box offices – audiences who are typically less bothered by whitewash casting – earning the film just $169.8 million against a production budget of $110 million, marketing costs not included.
Whitewashing aside, Ghost in the Shell failed to spark up much excitement from reviewers and moviegoers alike who were in agreement that though the film was visually breath-taking its plot and characterisation were rather run-of-the-mill compared to its source material.
If there’s anything positive to come from the whole Ghost in the Shell debacle though, it’s that Hollywood might start taking whitewashing more seriously.