When rumors swirled about a new Ghostbusters reboot, featuring a female cast of characters, it sure sounded official. Director Paul Feig tweeted about it. Bill Murray presented his dream cast. But it only seemed official… until today.
Paul Feig has confirmed via Twitter (via Consequence of Sound) that he is indeed directing a new Ghostbusters, that he’s gonna call on a female cast, and that he will be co-writing the new film with Katie Dippold, who also scripted his hit female-driven buddy cop comedy The Heat.
And you know what? We couldn’t be happier. If Hollywood is going to keep rebooting franchises (whether we like it or not), it’s far better in the long run to at least try to make them feel different than the original. Different perspectives, different ideas, different tones, different anything.
The various reboots and remakes that merely aped the original may have made money, but for the most part they haven’t made a dent in the pop culture consciousness. The newer versions of Robocop and A Nightmare on Elm Street and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles appeared to have been made by committee, refusing to rock the boat, trying to cash-in on brand recognition instead of contributing something new and special to the medium we all know and love. That’s something that the films they were based on didn’t do, and it’s the reason why audiences still know and talk about them today.
Paul Feig is a talented director, Katie Dippold is a talented writer, and there are no shortage of talented female actors who are available to fill out this now team of Ghostbusters. We wish them the best of luck, because if it sucks, we WILL be pissed about it. What a wasted opportunity that would be!
William Bibbiani is the editor of CraveOnline’s Film Channel and the host of The B-Movies Podcast and The Blue Movies Podcast. Follow him on Twitter at @WilliamBibbiani.
