Ghostbusters 3 Officially Has A Director, Writer, And A Female-Fronted Cast

By Nick Venable | Published 10 years ago

If it feels like Ghostbusters 3 has been years coming, that’s because it has. There have been multiple scripts and various people attached, but now we finally know who will lead this new team of paranormal investigators and what it will look like.

Paul Feig’s name has been connected to the Ghostbusters universe since August when reports started circulating that he might direct the long-gestating follow-up, and that it might not be a sequel, but rather a female-fronted reboot. A billion gender-related internet comments later, and the director and Sony have made all of that official, announcing that he will definitely be directing, with The Heat writer Katie Dippold joining to script the project along with him. A funny woman writing for funny women sounds better than whatever story would have seen Jonah Hill as a new ghostbusting recruit.

Of course, no story details were revealed or anything, as the script is only now starting to come together. I think it’s safe to assume we’ll see a group of women taking on the paranormal world in a comedic way. Does anyone want to join me out on this limb that I’m standing on?

Feig is obviously familiar with Dippold’s work, having worked with her on The Heat, which was the biggest non-animated comedy of 2013, earning over $159 million here in the states, and almost $230 million worldwide. This duo is clearly capable of bringing audiences to theaters in droves, and having them spearheading the new direction of the Ghostbusters franchise is exciting. Here’s Feig making the announcement himself via Twitter:

It's official. I'm making a new Ghostbusters & writing it with @katiedippold & yes, it will star hilarious women. That's who I'm gonna call.

— Paul Feig (@paulfeig) October 8, 2014

Feig has spent his entire career working with talented actresses, so even if he only stuck to his own regular players, this Ghostbusters cast could still be amazing. He first found cult stardom with Freaks and Geeks, which saw Linda Caredellini and Busy Philipps in their breakout roles, and he then directed episodes of such ensemble comedies as Arrested Development and The Office. His feature career hit new heights with Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy and the rest of the Bridesmaids cast, and if Sandra Bullock wants to continue her career with Feig by strapping on a proton pack, I guess that would be all right.

To her credit, Dippold has worked as a writer/producer on Parks and Recreation and MADtv, so she knows a think or two about big casts herself. She’ll also be writing The Heat 2 for whoever directs that. If you want to hear her sense of humor in the flesh (or as an audio file, as it were), check out her appearance on the hilarious podcast How Did This Get Made?, which is focused on the movie Stayin’ Alive.

Will they create the foundation upon which Dan Aykroyd’s wacky, Marvel-like Ghostbusters-verse will exist, or does THR‘s near-avoidance of using Ayrkoyd’s name mean that this is going somewhere without him?

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