There have been rumors for months that director Paul Feig (The Heat, Bridesmaids) sought an all-female cast to replace Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, Harold Ramis and Ernie Hudson in his reboot of Ghostbusters.
Melissa McCarthy was a natural to be a part of that foursome, given her previous work with Feig and status as one of Hollywood’s most popular comedy stars. But who else would join McCarthy in the group? We now know the answer, as Feig himself revealed on Twitter.
— Paul Feig (@paulfeig) January 27, 2015
As you can see from the image, fellow Bridesmaids alum Kristen Wiig has also been cast, along with two other Saturday Night Live stars in Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones. According to The Hollywood Reporter, McCarthy is the only one who has officially signed on for the film, while the other three are in negotiations. But between Feig’s tweet and THR‘s report, it appears that Wiig, McKinnon and Jones will be inked very soon.
For McKinnon, this would arguably be her first big movie break. She will almost certainly be a lesser player to McCarthy and Wiig, but most of her acting resume consists of TV roles (though she has parts in Masterminds and Sisters, both set to be released this year). She’s arguably the breakout star among the current SNL cast, however. Jones’ career has followed a similar track, but in addition to becoming a featured player on SNL this season (after initially being hired as a writer), she had a role in Chris Rock’s Top Five recently.
The new Ghostbusters is expected to begin shooting this summer in New York.
UPDATE: Feig followed up with another tweet announcing Ghostbusters’ release date.
In other news, #Ghostbusters will be hitting theaters July 22, 2016. Save the date!
— Paul Feig (@paulfeig) January 28, 2015
