Melissa McCarthy In Talks To Lead Female ‘Ghostbusters’ Reboot
By Empress Eve
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Saturday, January 10th, 2015 at 10:30 am
A few months ago, Paul Feig confirmed that’s he’d be directing a female-led Ghostbustersreboot from a script by Katie Dippold.
Now, THR has the scoop that Feig’s Bridesmaids star Melissa McCarthy is in early talks to be the lead in the currently untitled third Ghostbusters film.
What seems to be standing in the way of this signing is McCarthy’s busy schedule on the CBS TV sitcom Mike & Molly, as well as her other film commitments, such as the Universal comedy Michelle Darnell (directed by her husband, Ben Falcone, who co-wrote and directed his wife in the 2014 comedy Tammy). A remedy for this would reportedly be to have McCarthy film Michelle Darnell in mid-March and Ghostbusters in June.
A Ghostbusters 3 has been in development hell for years now, with original star Dan Aykroyd doing all he can over the years to keep the buzz alive, going so far to say that he’d like the Ghostbusters franchise to grow as big as the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Once the female-starring Ghostbusters film was greenlit, speculation arose about which actresses would be cast, with McCarthy’s name being right at the top. McCarthy’s Bridesmaids co-star Rebel Wilson as well as Academy Award-winning actress Jennifer Lawrence were reportedly approached about roles (Wilson joked in a Today Showinterview that she’d do the movie for free), while details from the emails in the Sony hacking revealed that Emma Stone, Amy Schumer, and Lizzy Caplan were interested in being the film.
THR also has the scoop that Jillian Bell (Workaholics) and comedienne Cecily Strong (Saturday Night Live) will be meeting with Feig about the movie.
McCarthy, who reportedly has not received an official offer to star in Ghostbusters, just finished filming Spy, her third feature with Feig (the first was the aforementioned 2011 Bridesmaids, followed by 2013’s The Heat). It would make sense for the actress, who starred in 2014’s St. Vincent with Ghostbusters alum Bill Murray, to team up with Feig again, especially in a role like this one. She’s a strong comedic actress who not only commands the screen, but can headline her own movies. If anyone is going to lead the Ghostbusters, it should be Melissa McCarthy. Matter of fact, they should just round of the whole Bridesmaids cast for this reboot.
Why would you take a franchise that overwhelmingly appeals to men and make it an all-female cast reboot? This is going to bomb at the box office. Anyone who actually attends fan conventions knows this is a guy franchise. Sure, there are some girls involved in the fandom but mostly because of their boyfriends / husbands.
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Why would you take a franchise that overwhelmingly appeals to men and make it an all-female cast reboot? This is going to bomb at the box office. Anyone who actually attends fan conventions knows this is a guy franchise. Sure, there are some girls involved in the fandom but mostly because of their boyfriends / husbands.
Comment by Carey Martell — January 11, 2015 @ 1:50 pm