The first trailer for the new Ghostbusters movie might have you assuming it”s a sequel – “30 years ago, four scientists saved New York,” it declares. “This summer, a new team will answer the call.”
But the new take on the 1984 supernatural comedy is, in fact, a reboot. Director and co-writer Paul Feig (whose comedy chops you know from Bridesmaids, The Heat, and Spy) explained why he went the reboot route:
“I didn”t like, personally, the idea of them being handed technology, ‘here”s how to do this.” I wanted to see it develop,” he told press and fans at an event on Wednesday. “I”m such a tech head. It”s so cool to see all these proton packs in the crowd – I”m just completely geeking out.”
The audience at the early screening of the trailer was indeed full of fans in jumpsuits and proton packs. (As the fans filed in, the event staff had to tell the fans, “Take off your proton packs as you enter the theater.”) Feig, the man who wears a suit every day, got compliments on his double-breasted jacket when he was introduced to the crowd. “You look sharp too. I like the addition of the tie,” he said to a fan who”d fancied up his ghostbusters getup.
In the new Ghostbusters movie, opening in theaters this July, the team figuring out how to bust some ghosts and developing new tech are Kate McKinnon, playing a nuclear engineer; Kristen Wiig, as a particle physicist; Melissa McCarthy, whose character has been studying the paranormal for years; and Leslie Jones, who doesn”t have a science degree but brings essential knowledge of New York City to the team.
If you haven”t yet seen the trailer, which hit the web this morning, you can watch it here to see this new team of scientists and their snazzy new tech.