Japanese animation house Production I.G has reached an agreement with local publisher Kodansha to act as an agent in developing a live-action feature film based on popular manga series Ghost In The Shell.

Production I.G will represent Kodansha, which owns the rights to the original manga series created by Masamune Shirow, in negotiations with various Hollywood studios.

The animation house produced Mamoru Oshii's 1995 anime feature film based on the series, and was also behind the film's sequel, Innocence, which became the first Japanese animated feature to be selected for competition at Cannes. The company was also behind the anime sequences in Kill Bill: Vol 1.

Ghost In The Shell , both the manga and anime, have a large fan-base and legendary status among animation fans in the US and worldwide. Western filmmakers, such as The Matrix creators, the Wachowski brothers, have previously acknowledged the film's influence on them.

Last year, Production I.G sold the live-action remake rights to animated series Blood: The Last Vampire to France 's Pathe. Korean star Jun Ji-hyun (My Sassy Girl, Windstruck) is set to star in the film, directed by Ronny Yu and produced by Bill Kong.

In January 2006, The Fuji Television Network and Production I.G jointly opened the FILM LLP (Fuji IG Laboratory for Movies), a post-production studio with ties to Skywalker Sound.

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