It’s fair to say that the live-action Hollywoodized remake of Ghost In The Shell has gone down very very badly at the Box Office. Perhaps as a result The Hollywood Reporter have a story talking about what’s next for the franchise.

They’re reporting that Kodansha, the original publishers of the classic graphic novel and Production I.G., the animation firm whose previous credits include Ghost In The Shell, Miss Hokusai and A Letter To Momo, are working on a new Ghost In The Shell animated feature.

Anime has been an especially good medium for the franchise with Stand Alone Complex arguably the most successful, and complete, exploration of the story’s main concepts outside the original graphic novel. It’s a relief to hear then that the new feature will be co-directed by Kenji Kamiyama (Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex series) and Shinji Aramaki (Appleseed). Those are very safe pairs of hands that know this franchise inside and out.

No word on release yet or where this will fit into the somewhat torturous Ghost In The Shell continuity. But it’s on the way and looks set to be a welcome course correction and palate cleanser for the future of the series. More as soon as we know it.