The new, all-female Ghostbusters cast: Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig & more
Rumors of a Ghostbusters III have persisted for a good five years. For real. This project has been the bane of Bill Murray’s existence forever. Dan Aykroyd kept accusing Murray of holding up the project, and Dan was correct. But Murray had a damn good reason. Did any of you watch Ghostbusters II? Forget about cats and dogs living together. The sequel had a walking Statue of Liberty. Atrocious.
The pressure fell off Murray when director Paul Feig took over the project. Feig annouced that the project wouldn’t be a sequel but a reboot. (Yes, another reboot.) The cast would be all female, and Murray threw out several suggestions. He loved the idea of Emma Stone and Jennifer Lawrence plus Kristen Wiig and Melissa McCarthy. He nailed it halfway. Here’s the official cast from Hollywood Reporter:
The all-new, all-female Ghostbusters are here.
Melissa McCarthy, who was already in talks for one of the leads, has signed on for the Paul Feig-directed reboot, and Sony is now negotiating with Kristen Wiig as well as Saturday Night Live players Leslie Jones and Kate McKinnon, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.
Negotiations are ongoing, but the quartet are expected to sign on as the specter-seeking, poltergeist-punishing, phantom-phollowing foursome in the reboot, which is eyeing a summer shoot in New York.
McCarthy and Wiig have worked with Feig before, both breaking out in the director’s Bridesmaids. Jones, who is currently onscreen in Chris Rock’s Top Five, joined SNL early last year and this fall was promoted to feature player status. McKinnon has been on SNL since 2012 and last year was nominated for an Emmy for her work.
The film is set for release on July 22, 2016, Feig said on Twitter.
The Ghostbusters reboot has endured a long development process. Original director Ivan Reitman was on board to return, but while original castmembers Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis and Ernie Hudson had agreed to reprise their characters, Bill Murray proved elusive. Reitman then bowed out of the project when Ramis passed away last year. Following Reitman’s departure, Feig was approached to direct and reconceived the project as a reboot starring an all-female cast.
[From Hollywood Reporter]
Not bad, right? Emma Stone was probably too busy to join the cast, and JLaw may not have been a serious contender. Wiig and McCarthy should easily fit the bill, sort of like Bridesmaids with unlicensed nuclear reactors. Leslie Jones is a treasure on SNL and was very funny in Top Five. I don’t know much about Kate McKinnon. Is she a good pick? Man, I bet Ernie Hudson is angry he hasn’t gotten a call yet. He’s going to be waiting for someone to cross the streams.
Photos courtesy of WENN
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