 Ghost in the Shell influenced a number of prominent filmmakers . The <unk> , creators of The Matrix and its sequels , showed it to producer Joel Silver , saying , " We wanna do that for real . " The Matrix series took several concepts from the film , including the Matrix digital rain , which was inspired by the opening credits of Ghost in the Shell , and the way people accessed the Matrix through holes in the back of their necks . Other parallels have been drawn to James Cameron 's Avatar , Steven Spielberg 's AI : Artificial Intelligence , and Jonathan <unk> 's <unk> . 
