Melissa McCarthy Eyed As ‘Ghostbusters’ Lead, But Scheduling Issues Remain
It will come as a surprise to no one thatPaul Feigis consideringMelissa McCarthyas the likely lead for his all-femaleGhostbustersteam. Though McCarthy has been working for years, with a role on over 150 episodes ofGilmore Girlsacting as her first major calling card, it was the Feig-directedBridesmaidsthat really made her a major player. The pair have since done two more films:The Heat, and the soon to be releasedSpy. So McCarthy is at the top of Feig’s list — but scheduling and creative questions still have to be worked out before we’ll see Melissa McCarthy as a Ghostbuster.
THRhas some new details, saying that Sony wants a June shoot for the film, but that McCarthy’s schedule forMike & Molly, and the upcoming Universal filmMichelle Darnell,to be directed by her husbandBen Falcone, come first. That doesn’t meant this won’t happen, as Michelle Darnell could shoot in March, leaving McCarthy free for the June Ghostbusters shoot.
There’s also the mention of “creative conversations” that have to take place, and we don’t know what the details are there.
The trade also knocks a few names off recent lists we’ve heard about for the film, saying that Jennifer Lawrence and Rebel Wilson are not contenders, and that while Emma Stone is a contender, McCarthy is the key player. The report also listsJillian Bell(Workaholics), andCecily Strong(SNL) as people set to meet with Feig.
All we know about this film is that it will be a new story about a group of women who form a Ghostbusting team. The original cast (Bill Murray, Dan AykroydandErnie Hudson) may cameo, but this isn’t a situation where that original team will be teaching the new crew. Feig has said “I want ours to be scarier than the original,” but evenrecent commentsfrom him about the film say that the script isn’t finished, so there’s not much to reveal yet. (And that early script state could factor in to the creative conversations that will take place with the cast.)
