Variety is reporting that Dreamworks has acquired the rights to create a live action movie based on Masamune Shirow’s Ghost in the Shell property, and plans to make the movie in 3-D.  Avi Arad (Spider-Man, Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk) and Stephen Paul, who brought the project to Dreamworks, are set to produce.  According to Variety there was a spirited bidding war with Universal and Sony also interested in acquiring Ghost in the Shell but “Steven Spielberg took a personal interest in the property and made it happen at Dreamworks.”

Spielberg told Variety, “Ghost in the Shell is one of my favorite stories, it’s a genre that has arrived and we enthusiastically welcome it to Dreamworks.” Dreamworks’ head of production Adam Goodman added: “Ghost in the Shell is a property that epitomizes 3-D live action motion picture possibilities.

If all this enthusiasm and high-powered backing translates to the film getting made, it should benefit sales of the Ghost in the Shell manga (published here by Dark Horse) as well as sales of the various Ghost in the Shell anime series (and features), which are mostly available from Manga Entertainment (Dreamworks has the Ghost in the Shell II: Innocence feature).