Ghostbusters is back with a new cast and a new story! It’s not here to replace the original, but to play homage to the wonderful idea of the Ghostbusters and to introduce this franchise to a new audience.
I attended the press junket for Ghostbusters where Ivan Reitman (original Ghostbusters director), Paul Feig (Director), Katie Dippold (screenwriter) and actresses Melissa McCarthy, Leslie Jones, Kate McKinnon shared their thoughts on the new film. I can only imagine how fun it was to film a movie like Ghostbusters! Kate McKinnon compared being in this film to a carnival ride, or a “hoe down” or the “funnest thing you can imagine”.
Ivan Reitman shared that this is the perfect time for the Ghostbusters reboot particularly as told thru these four extraordinary women. He shared that, “It was remarkable to be there to watch them and to see it happening again and to see it happen under Paul Fieg’s direction. It was a great thrill!”
The press conference was full of laughs as well as friendship and passion for what the film stands for.
Here are 8 fun Ghostbusters facts/highlights from the day:
Melissa considered playing a practical joke on Leslie Jones-
She spent several weeks obsessing with the idea of adding a bit of weight to Leslie’s pack but incrementally, every day, because she constantly talked about how heavy the packs were. Melissa shared, “I went back and forth but if at the end of these two weeks that she finds out that her bags are literally killing her and it was me? I didn’t want to be there.”
Was it easy for screenwrIter Katie Dippold to write a script for such funny ladies?-
“When Paul first asked me to write it with him my brain exploded because I loved the original so much. But the second Paul cast these women it was a huge sigh of relief because they are amazing and funny which made everything so much easier.”
Is actress Kate McKinnon a scientist in secret?
“I spent a lot of hours looking up the nouns that I was supposed to say and most of them are real nouns not really related to one another in real life. I love science and junk like that and it was fun. These guys helped me memorize it by testing me.” Leslie Jones shared Kate bought a soldering kit and made an alarm system. Kate responded that she was bored on weekends and wanted to do a soldering refresher to keep her busy.
How did Bill Murry really feel about the actresses?-
Ivan Reitman shared that, “This was the easiest ever in getting Bill involved. He was such a fan of these four women together and wanted it made known publically that he was such a supporter of what they were going to do.”
What does it mean to the cast as role models to young children?
Actress Leslie Jones shared a memory from when she was younger, “When I was coming up, I saw Whoopi Goldberg on television. I remember crying. I remember telling my dad that I can’t believe that there was someone on television that looks like me. I can now do this and for some little black girl to see me doing this. Yeah, I’m pretty proud of that.”
Who did the cast look up to as heroes?
Kate shared, “For me it’s any woman comedian who has dared to wear pants or not care about how she looks or not care about looking like what we think of as feminine, so many of my heroes fall into that category. I’ve tried to carry that torch.”
Leslie commented that she was “so old” and that we probably didn’t know some of these women, “Like Moms Mabley. All the female comedians that would go for the joke. Lucille Ball, Carol Burnette, these people stand out to me because they just go for it, like Melissa, I tell her all the time that she has face. I love her!”
Melissa’s original inspiration is her mom, “I have a really kind mother. Whatever I wanted to do whether it was crazy or not, she said if you work hard enough you can do it.” Melissa was interested by anyone who says, ‘I will not be bound by someone else saying what you should and shouldn’t do.’” At 20 Melissa decided she was going to be an actor. My mom said, “Great go do that just do it well.”
How did Paul Feig find the perfect actresses to play the Ghostbusters?-
Paul had to think about why the first movie worked, “It was an amazing story.
It was executed so well. But it’s because of those people cast in that original movie who were so amazing. Now, I had to assemble a dream team, a comedy dream team and it was a pretty easy decision to make. Because these are four of the funniest people working today, four of the most talented people working today.
How much extra material will we see on the Blu-ray?
The first cut of this movie was four hours and 15 mins long! Paul explained, “My first director’s cut, where I tightened it was 3.5 hours long. Such an embarrassment of riches when you have this an amazing group of people. There was so much funny stuff and so much great stuff that it became the hardest thing in the world to get this down under 2 hours but I’m happy with where it is. In all its forms and all lengths and sizes these ladies in this movie are amazing.”
The four women (Kristen Wigg was not in attendance) had grown so close that they cried the entire day the film wrapped. Kate McKinnon didn’t think that as an adult that she could develop that kind of friendship with new people. She added that it was a, “Beautiful moment to look at each other and ball our eyes out.”
When asked to address any concerns about women in this role, the panel unanimously answered, “Just go and see the movie.”
So, when is the next Ghostbusters? Ivan commented, “Soon”. Hmm…That could take a while until then see Ghostbusters in theaters July 15 and make sure to stay for the closing credits!
