The people who have already made their mind up about Paul Feig and his Lady Ghostbusters aren’t likely going to care about the Bridesmaids‘ director’s motivations for wanting to put a radically different spin on the franchise, but there are surely people that are excited about the project and there are also people who need to be sold on it.
Because of that, Feig recently opened up to Empire Magazine about the still developing project, offering up a bit of candor about why he didn’t want to do a straight sequel (he has “too much respect for the original”), why the franchise needed a fresh start, why he wants to fill the cast with funny women, and why his film won’t be R-rated.
Here’s Feig on rebooting over refreshing:
“There’s also the feeling that once the world knows ghosts and has seen them busted on such a large scale, they run the risk of becoming pedestrian. There’s something fun about introducing our world, which has never seen ghosts to the phenomenon of ghosts. I love origin stories and to introduce new characters.”
The passage of time might insulate against that concern if Feig was able get over his issues with a sequel, but he has a point about the possibility of ghosts becoming commonplace and less shocking to the characters within the story in the third go-around. You can’t un-see The Statue of Liberty walking down the street or pretend like the events of the first two movies were the product of a gas leak or a well orchestrated light show. Everyone can’t be as oblivious as the judge in Ghostbusters II.
Here’s Feig on his decision to cast funny women as the leads:
“A lot of people accused it of being a gimmick. I guess I can see the cynics’ view of it, but for me I just love working with funny women. People said, ‘Why don’t you do a mix?’ I’m just more interested in the idea of lady Ghostbusters. It’s the way my brain works.”
I’d personally rather see a nice blend, but I get the narrative benefit that Feig will get with his approach and there are a lot of talented actresses who are reportedly on the short list to star in the film. I don’t think that Feig is going to ban penis-having SAG members from the set. This isn’t a guy who has worked exclusively with women. He’s got professional ties to Seth Rogen, James Franco, Chris O’Dowd and a lot of talented comic actors who could play an important part. And that would make sense because, when talking about why the film won’t carry an R-rating, he says that he wants “the biggest number of people to watch” the film.
“The reason I do a lot of R-Rated comedies is that you want a movie to feel honest. But the Ghostbusters world doesn’t need that level of swearing. We’ll have to be PG-13 with this one. I would like to make it R-Rated, but I won’t. You want the biggest number of people to watch it and not be put off by it.”
I absolutely agree with this. Like or loathe Feig’s plans, it still seems advantageous to the survival of the nerd/geek/whatever race that this film be a success. The originals weren’t committed to stone tablet — as a special effects laden film from a long ago era (I screamed as I typed each letter of that sentence), the original Ghostbusters won’t live forever as a relevant piece of pop culture. It’s sort of amazing that it has lasted as long as it has, but that’s a testament to the work that was done.
This refresh is understandable when you look at it that way and, despite my devotion to the Bill Murray-starring version, I do hope that Feig’s film (or, whatever version we eventually see) stands as something that is iconic to the next generation. Because at the end of the day, bustin’ exists to make us all feel good. AmIright? I am right.
Via Empire Magazine with transcription by CBM