Channing Tatum Joins ‘Ghostbusters’ For All-Male Counter To Paul Feig’s Woman-Led Project

Channing Tatum is joining Ghostbusters, as Sony is reportedly planning a second, male-led spinoff to counter the all-female cast of Paul Feig’s adaptation.

The announcement that Channing Tatum is joining the Ghostbusters franchise comes as Sony announced the formation of a new production company called Ghost Corps. The project brings together Ghostbusters director Ivan Reitman along with Dan Aykroyd, directors Joe and Anthony Russo, and Iron Man 3 writer Drew Pearce.

As Reitman told Deadline, Ghost Corps will open a world of possibilities for the Ghostbusters franchise.

“We want to expand the ‘Ghostbusters’ universe in ways that will include different films, TV shows, merchandise, all things that are part of modern filmed entertainment. This is a branded entertainment, a scary supernatural premise mixed with comedy. Paul Feig’s film will be the first version of that, shooting in June to come out in July, 2016. He’s got four of the funniest women in the world, and there will be other surprises to come. The second film has a wonderful idea that builds on that. Drew will start writing and the hope is to be ready for the Russo Brothers’ next window next summer to shoot, with the movie coming out the following year. It’s just the beginning of what I hope will be a lot of wonderful movies.”

Reitman said his main focus would be to make Ghostbusters into “the universe it always promised it might become.” The effort seems to be successful so far, with anticipation already high for the all-female adaptation.

“The original film is beloved, as is the cast, and we hope to create films we will continue to love… Sometimes things happen as the speed they are supposed to happen,” Reitman said. “The deals were so strong on that second movie that the franchise became frozen in place 25 years. Nothing got done, we all had the power to block whatever we didn’t like, but we finally got together and found a way.”

While Channing Tatum is leading the all-male Ghostbusters effort, Bridesmaids director Paul Feig is working on a separate re-boot that stars Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, and Leslie Jones. The all-female Ghostbusters is set for a July 2016 release, and it’s not announced yet when the Channing Tatum-led project will be released.

[Image via Teen]