The new faces of the Ghostbusters are here and they are sure to shake up the conventional formula. The Ghostbusters franchise has been in a state of perpetual limbo since Ghostbusters 2 was released in 1989. Dan Aykroyd tried to get a third film into theaters for decades, but bad scripts and the lack of cooperation from Bill Murray always seemed to throw a monkey wrench into its development. A final blow was dealt to the prospects of a third film when actor and director Harold Ramis passed away, suddenly the door seemed shut with more finality than before.
Director Paul Feig (Bridesmaids) is a self-admitted Ghostbusters fan and he had come up with a much different take on the property. He decided that a reboot is the best way to go and in an effort to avoid comparisons to the original, Feig settled on writing a script, with Katie Dipold, that featured an all-female led cast. In an earlier interview he explained his approach:
I have too much respect for the original one [to do a sequel]. There’s also the feeling that once the world knows ghosts and has seen them busted on such a large scale, they run the risk of becoming pedestrian. There’s something fun about introducing our world, which has never seen ghosts to the phenomenon of ghosts. I love origin stories and to introduce new characters…Both she and I are obsessed with how do we make comedy really scary? The sequel to The Heat was going to be pretty scary and funny. Almost like in a Silence of the Lambs type thing but funny. I think funny people in peril and in danger is one of the best forms of comedy, and I really like things to play very real while funny things are happening. So that’s what both Katie and I really want to do with this one is make it crazy funny but also you’re scared at the same time.
If Feig can truly throw some genuine scares into the movie it could be fun. Feig typically makes R rated movies so it’s also easy seeing him trying to push some boundaries. He isn’t known as a visual director necessarily, so it remains to be seen how the tone of the movie will work out. However, things did get a little more clear today when Feig tweeted out the four women that will star in the remake of Ghostbusters.
pic.twitter.com/LBtv2YXfv6
— Paul Feig (@paulfeig)
Feig has settled on Kristen Wiig (Bridesmaids), Melissa McCarthy (Spy), Leslie Jones, (Saturday Night Live, Top Five), and Kate McKinnon (Saturday Night Live) as the new leads in his untitled Ghostbusters reboot. It’s clear that he was looking for actresses with proven comedic chops first. He has worked with Wiig and McCarthy on Bridesmaids and Jones and McKinnon are two standouts currently on SNL. While there is a script, it is easy to assume that there will be a ton of improvisation and on-the-spot rewrites of scenes as Wiig, McCarthy and Jones, all have proven writing chops as well.
It seems that while the gender has been switched, the cast still feels like working-class New Yorkers. That was the charm of the original cast, they seemed like blue-collar scientists tinkering with things that are over their heads. It’s easy to imagine Wiig tapping into the charming naivete of Dan Aykroyd or McCarthy and Jones tapping into the working class approach to the supernatural of Bill Murray and Ernie Hudson. However it’s not as easy to imagine how it will all come together. Fortunately the project is in relatively good hands with Feig, who has a good track record
We will be sure to bring you the latest on the untitled Ghostbusters reboot. Do you like the new cast that has been put together? Let us know on the comment boards, , , and !