It’s been a few months since the announcement that Paul Feig (Bridesmaids, The Heat) would be set to direct the new Ghostbusters film with an all-female cast. Shortly after, Bill Murray made his own suggestions as to who those women should be. Yesterday, that cast was finally revealed; Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Leslie Jones, and Kate McKinnon will hit the big screen on July 22nd, 2016 and become the next generation of badass paranormal scientists that lead toy sales for years to come.
Dan Aykroyd expressed his pride in the progress the franchise is seeing:
The Aykroyd family is delighted by this inheritance of the Ghostbusters torch by these most magnificent women in comedy . . . My great grandfather, Dr. Sam Aykroyd, the original Ghostbuster, was a man who empowered women in his day, and this is a beautiful development in the legacy of our family business.”
While a promising and exciting cast will bring many to the theater for the new film the absurd, albeit unsurprising, concern with an all-female cast is all too present in accompaniment with the announcement. Feig responded to the outcry:
I just don’t understand why it’s ever an issue anymore. I’ve promoted both Bridesmaids and The Heat and myself and my cast are still hit constantly with the question, ‘Will this answer the question of whether women can be funny?’ I really cannot believe we’re still having this conversation . . . Why is a movie starring women considered a gimmick and a movie starring men is just a normal movie?”
It was a little less than a year ago that original Ghostbusters cast member Harold Ramis passed away. And Bill Murray expressed his distaste for another Ghostbusters with the original cast. It only seems right to reinvent it.