Ghostbusters 3 Eyes Director Paul Feig, Could Be An All Female Reboot
Who you gonna call?
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No matter how much we wish it would just disappear, talk of Ghostbusters 3 just won’t go way. If the latest reports making the rounds turn out to be true, however, it would take the movie in a totally different direction than most of us thought. Sony is apparently courting Bridesmaids director and Freaks and Geeks creator Paul Feig to helm the next sequel to Ivan Reitman’s 1984 comedy classic, possibly with an all female lead cast.
The Hollywood Reporter first broke the news that The Heat director was in talks with the studio. According to their sources, he’s not the only one in contention for the Ghostbusters 3 job, but has emerged as the clear frontrunner. Feig has also reportedly expressed interest in the project, but at the moment, the discussions are still being called “casual.” This sounds like the kind of situation that could easily deteriorate and fall apart along the way.
This story takes an interesting turn with a follow up report that appeared over at Variety. They confirm that Feig is in fact on board, or at least on board-ish, with helming a new Ghostbusters movie, but they claim that this is not a sequel and that reports to that end are incorrect. Instead, their sources say that Feig’s Ghostbusters will be a complete reboot, and that the core quartet of titular paranormal investigators will all be women.
The original 2008 script for Ghostbusters 3 by Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg, who both wrote for NBC’s version of The Office, has been rewritten and tinkered with on numerous occasions over the years, notably by Men In Black 3’s Etan Cohen. This latest report, however, states that a new script will start over from scratch. If the reboot portion of this article is indeed correct, that move makes a great deal of sense. It’s also a bit unclear at this stage whether or not Ghostbusters 3 will still happen, or if this reboot would take that place.
Reitman, who directed both Ghostbusters and 1989’s Ghostbusters 2, was originally on board to direct Ghostbusters 3, but bailed on the project back in March. Since then, things have been in flux, despite repeated assurances by the likes of Ernie Hudson that the film could shoot as early as this fall, or possibly sometime early in 2015.
It’s also possible that the idea of a female-fronted reboot could be speculation. Feig has, after all, found significant success with female-driven comedies his last two times out. That’s not to say it doesn’t have a ring of possibility to it. Can’t you just picture the likes of Kristen Wiig and Melissa McCarthy decked out in those iconic beige jumpsuits with proton packs strapped to their backs? I’m still not sold on the fact that we need another Ghostbusters movie, sequel or otherwise, but that idea sounds better than trotting out two of the original cast members (Bill Murray has often said that he won’t appear, and of course Harold Ramis passed away earlier this years, which only leaves Dan Aykroyd and Hudson) to relive their glory days. That’s just sad.
