After much hemming and hawing, the Paul Feig-helmed Ghostbusters project finally has its leading cast.
Here’s who you’re gonna call.
— Paul Feig (@paulfeig) January 27, 2015
Clockwise from the upper left, that’s Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Leslie Jones and Kate McKinnon. The Hollywood Reporter originally broke the news.
Feig, who directed Wiig’s breakout hit Bridesmaids in 2012, tweeted photos of the four women shortly after to confirm. The director acquired the project after years of stalled development, with original Ghostbusters director Ivan Reitman bowing out after original cast member Harold Ramis passed away last year.
Like the original film, the new Ghostbusters is littered with members of the Saturday Night Live family: Jones and McKinnon are current featured players, Wiig was on the show from 2005-2012, and McCarthy has hosted twice, with a third date scheduled for Super Bowl weekend.
The project will be co-written by Feig and Katie Dippold (writer of the Sandra Bullock/McCarthy buddy comedy The Heat), and will not be a remake of the original film.
Feig said to Entertainment Weekly in December that his film will take place before the first two films in the film’s universe, serving as an origin story.
This casting announcement comes on the heels of rumors that the reboot would feature an all-female cast, which garnered some tension from fans of the original franchise and enthusiasm from fans of Feig.
“My favorite thing to do is work with funny women,” Feig told EW in October. “I was like, what if it was an all female cast? If they were all women? Suddenly, my mind kind of exploded: that would be really fun.”
Production is set to begin in New York City this summer. We’re pumped.
Thanks to the The Hollywood Reporter for sharing.
