Slime Time: First Trailer for New 'Ghostbusters' Is Here (Just Don't Call It a She-Boot)
Our first look at the upcoming Ghostbusters reboot is here, and it’s a nostalgia-and-slime-soaked laugh-fest that quickly establishes stars Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon, and Leslie Jones as the franchise’s worthy new torchbearers.
It also doesn’t take long for the sliming to commence. In one early scene, Dr. Erin Gilbert (Wiig), Abby Yates (McCarthy), and Jillian Holtzman (McKinnon) encounter “a Class-4 Apparition” who ignores their come-in-peace offering and promptly projectile hurls all over Wiig. A paranormal invasion is sweeping New York, and the new team of scientists once again come, see, and kick spectral ass.
Director Paul Feig (Bridesmaids, Spy) — who was joined by producer/original director Ivan Reitman, as well as co-writer Katie Dippold — gave an audience of cheering Ghostbusters cosplayers and press members an early preview of this “first bite of the apple” Wednesday morning on the Sony lot. Feig filled in some of the blanks on his quartet of main characters: Wiig’s Dr. Gilbert is a particle physicist, McCarthy’s Abby Yates is a paranormal expert, McKinnon’s Holtzman is a nuclear engineer and the resident techie, and Jones is Patty Tolan, a spunky subway attendant recruited into their crew for her knowledge of NYC.
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The filmmaker doesn’t want to draw direct parallels between the new cast and their predecessors, but we just can’t help it, and it’s pretty clear the quirkily bookish Holtzman is the new Egon Spengler (Harold Ramis), and as the only non-scientist, Patty Tolan, is the new Winston Zeddmore (Ernie Hudson). As for Gilbert and Yates, their parts play out in one particularly funny moment in which they both awkwardly proclaim “Let’s go!,” clearly establishing them as the squad’s co-leaders (and thus new Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd).
Despite the fact that the trailer acknowledges this story comes 30 years after the last time ghosts invaded Gotham, this edition takes place in an entirely separate universe. That means original cast members who are returning in bit parts, like Murray, Aykroyd, Hudson, Sigourney Weaver, and Annie Potts, are all playing new roles.
We don’t catch sight of any of them in the teaser, but there is a brief appearance by Thor himself, Chris Hemsworth, who plays the Ghostbusters’ secretary (or a Mannie Potts, if you will). And he looks possessed (a detail revealed via the Lego set) — similar to what happened to Weaver’s Dana when she was inhabited by Zuul in the original Ghostbusters, the new ghosts can take human form. It sets up the trailer’s perfect closer: Jones attempting to smack the spirit out of McCarthy, even after the ghoul is long gone.
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The trailer is filled with nostalgic throwbacks, though — including an orchestral spin on the theme song, the introduction of the new Ecto-1 (a Cadillac hearse contributed by Patty), classic gizmos and Proton packs, and a quick cameo from the iconic green ghoul Slimer.
It also teases a human villain who is said to have created a device that “amplifies paranormal activity.” The rogue is rumored to be played by comedian Dan Casey, who Feig directed in the Yahoo Original series Other Space, but the filmmaker would neither confirm or deny that when we caught up with him after the Q&A session.
Feig is proud to introduce Ghostbusters to a new generation of fans, and though he’s become known as a go-to director for female-driven comedies, never saw the gender-flip as the big deal it’s become. “I just wanted the funniest people,” he said. “And the funniest people I know just happen to be these women. But it should never be about that.”
So don’t call it a she-boot. Feig let out a big laugh at our pun, then got real. “That’s terrible. It’s funny, but I don’t like anything that ghetto-izes movies with women in them,” he said. “So yeah, I can’t endorse that.”
Ghostbusters opens July 15.
Watch the trailer for the 30th anniversary screenings of the original ‘Ghostbusters’:
