AceShowbiz -

Pilou Asbaek has signed on to star in DreamWorks' "Ghost in the Shell". According to Variety, Asbaek will join the previously-announced cast member, Scarlett Johansson, with Rupert Sanders on board to direct the movie.

"Ghost in the Shell" is based on Masmune Shirow's original manga and the classic 1995 animated film adaptation. It is set in a futuristic society where nearly all humans have some amount of cybernetic implants. The movie follows Section 9, an elite task force devoted to stopping the most dangerous criminals and extremists.

Johansson will play Major Motoko Kusanagi, a female special ops cyborg who leads the task force. Meanwhile, Asbaek will portray Kusanagi's second-in-command, and the most formidable physical combatant in the unit.

Avi Arad and Steven Paul are on board to produce with Michael Costigan, Jeffrey Silver, Tetsu Fujimura and Mitsuhisa Ishikawa tapped as executive producers. Other cast members have yet to be announced. The action movie is scheduled to hit U.S. theaters on March 31, 2017.

Asbek previously worked with Johansson in "Lucy". He is best known for his role on "The Borgias" and is set to play Euron Greyjoy in the next season of "Game of Thrones".