It was believed that The Wolf of Wall Street’s Margot Robbie was in talks to star in DreamWorks’ big screen adaptation of the popular manga Ghost in the Shell, but now another frontrunner has emerged for the role.

Scarlett Johansson, star of The Avengers, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and Lucy, has apparently been offered $10 million to bring Major Motoko Kusanagi to life in the movie which Snow White and the Huntsman director Rupert Sanders is set to helm from a script by William Wheeler (The Hoax).

Robbie – who will play Jane in David Yates’ Tarzan reboot – is said to be close to joining upcoming DC Comics adaptation Suicide Squad, so that could explain why the studio have set their sights elsewhere.

Ghost in the Shell is based on the series by Masamune Shirow, and there has been talk of bringing it to the big screen for a number of years now. The comic books, video games and direct-to-DVD releases have all found great success, so it’s obvious that DreamWorks are hoping this could be their next big franchise.

Avi Arad is producing Ghost in the Shell with Steven Spielberg also keeping a watchful eye over things.

When the rights were originally picked up, there was talk of shooting it in 3D, but there’s currently no word on a release date or anything else as of right now. Do you think Johansson is a good choice for the role?