Do writers not go to school anymore? Or do schools not teach grammar?
Sony Pictures handout
On Wednesday Paul Feig, the director of Bridesmaids and The Heat, sent out a tweet that got lovers of quotable 80s movies in a frenzy.
Yes, Feig will be writing the third Ghostbusters movie along with Katie Dippold, who wrote The Heat. Updating the Ghostbusters franchise with a cast of funny women isn’t just a fun twist on the classic movie (I don’t count the sequel as a classic, though I’ll ride for Rick Moranis as The Keymaster any time) but really the only way they could reboot the franchise. Here’s why:
By completely changing the formula it gives the film a shot to succeed
By dusting off Ghostbusters 25 years after the last film, a filmmaker would be faced with a rough decision — either try and recreate the movie with the still-living cast members (Harold Ramis, who wrote and acted in the first two films, died in February) or try and cast a totally new group of young actors who would try and put their own stamp on it.
With a cast of men, it would be impossible for audiences not to try and compare the new actors to the original performances. Is Jason Segal trying to be the Akroyd or the Ramis? Who could possibly play Dr. Peter Venkman? The actors themselves would struggle with the parts — do you pay homage to the original cast or totally go your own way?
It would never stack up because it could never stack up. The movie would either be a lame rehash or not faithful enough to the original material. It would be doomed before it was made. (Unless they made the full-length Sweded version us fans of Be Kind, Rewind have been waiting for.)
By going with a cast of women, however, all expectations are thrown out the window. The movie is free to be its own thing, because whoever they end up casting (come onnnnn, Kristin Wiig) will be able to come at it completely fresh. I don’t know if it will be a massive hit, but the movie has a real chance.
It gives Feig and Dippold a way to get a studio to buy into a comedy led by funny women
You would’ve thought that the success of Bridesmaids was a sign to studios that comedies led by a cast of women can be huge successes, but sadly it seems that most studios viewed the success of Bridesmaids as the result of some crazy, mysterious alchemy that could never hope to be duplicated.
AP Photo
This is dumb. And while it’s too bad it’s going to take a sequel from one of the most beloved comedy films of all-time for a studio to readily buy into a comedy starring a group of funny women, at least it’s happening.
You still know Bill Murray and Sigourney Weaver are going to make cameos
Bill Murray made the single funniest movie cameo of the last 20 years when he dropped in on Zombieland, and you know this movie will have a cameo from him, and it will be perfect. It has to have a cameo from him. Come on, Hollywood. We need this.
Also, while you’re at it, a Sigourney Weaver cameo (or starring role?) wouldn’t hurt anything either. Thanks.
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