Dissecting The Differences And Similarities Between The Original ‘Ghostbusters’ And New All-Female Reboot
The brand new all-female cast for Ghostbusters has officially been chosen and announced, and it has been met with a mixed reaction. It’s been known for months now that director Paul Feig would be bringing in an all-female lead cast for the reboot of the classic 80’s film, but no-one quite knew who it would be. Now, one has to wonder — how does the Ghostbusters reboot compare to the original?
When Hollywood Reporter announced the new cast for Ghostsbusters, some choices were shocking, while others weren’t. Melissa McCarthy was already in talks for a role, but then it was revealed that Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones, and Kate McKinnon were all in serious negotiations as well.
— Paul Feig (@paulfeig) January 27, 2015
Upon looking at the two films, there isn’t a whole lot known about the reboot yet, but let’s see what is different and what isn’t about the casts.
First of all, there is the obvious similarity that there are three white leads and one African-American. The original Ghostbusters had the same with their cast, as it was Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, and Dan Aykroyd, along with Ernie Hudson.
Feig hasn’t actually stated much about his reboot of Ghostbusters or how it will go down. As ScreenRant reported a few months ago, this will not be Ghostbusters 3, but it will be a “hard reboot” for something totally different and “really scary.”
It’s obvious that there will be some similarities with the all-female cast announced, so let’s look at how it could end up going down.
Melisasa McCarthy — Dan Aykroyd (Ray Stantz)
McCarthy seems like she will be a bit of the comic relief that is quite intelligent, but gullible at the same time. That’s exactly how Aykroyd’s character of Ray Stantz has always been portrayed, and McCarthy fits right into the mold.
Her comedy can be over the top at times, but Feig may try to tone it down a bit for Ghostbusters. Dan Aykroyd is absolutely hilarious, but his humor was kept small and corny at times in the 1984 film, and it worked.
Leslie Jones — Ernie Hudson (Winston Zeddemore)
Jones has done stand-up comedy, a large number of movies and TV shows, and quickly moved up the Saturday Night Live ladder to a feature player. She could step into the role of Ernie Hudson’s character of Winston Zeddemore.
The thing with Zeddemore is that he also wasn’t over-the-top comical, but had some great one-liners. He came into the team as the skeptic-turned-believer that was the “enforcer” of the Ghostbusters, so to speak. Leslie Jones easily fits into that similar role.
The other two team members for Ghostbusters could be mix-and-matched, so it’s hard to determine who may be closer in styles/personality to who.
Kristen Wiig/Kate McKinnon — Bill Murray (Peter Venkman) & Harold Ramis (Egon Spengler)
The way it seems is that Kristen Wiig could take on the role of Bill Murray, but honestly, she seems more that of Harold Ramis’ Egon Spengler. Not only does she have a similar slender and tall build that Ramis did, but her personality comes off quite the same. She can be the genius semi-leader of the Ghostbusters and guide them.
McKinnon appears to be the one that will head in the same direction as Bill Murray’s character of Peter Venkman. She can be the one that loves the guys and is a bit of a rebel while also being rather brilliant. Her roles on SNL just appear to have her primed for that similar role and it would work quite well.
Then again, this could all be a moot point if Feig doesn’t want his reboot to have really anything to do with the original film. Still, it’s kind of interesting that he already picked a cast that has a similar look to the first.
Some slightly overlooked news was that Feig also announced the release date of Ghostbusters along with the cast selections.
In other news, #Ghostbusters will be hitting theaters July 22, 2016. Save the date! — Paul Feig (@paulfeig) January 28, 2015
That makes it officially just over 32 years that will span between the original Ghostbusters and the reboot. There are many similarities and many differences as well, but fans of the original are truly hoping that a legacy is not tarnished. Paul Feig looks to please the hardcore paranormal fans while also making new ones.
[Images via Celebrity Watch Dog/AP]
