GHOSTBUSTERS

Paul Feig ain’t ‘fraid of no social-media haters.

1. Ladies’ night

Never mind the idiotic haters claiming that women are scared of ghosts (and, er, mice) and wouldn’t be able to work the tech hardware – the gender swap is an ace idea, sure to bring a fresh dynamic to the reboot. The ’tude of the released stills promises that these ladies will kick serious ass, human and ectoplasmic, and have a whole lotta fun doing it.

2. Sister act

Who you gonna call? There were rumours of Anne Hathaway, Gillian Anderson, Tina Fey and more strapping on proton packs, but the chosen quartet – Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones (all veterans of SNL, in keeping with the original cast) – are spot-on choices. Talking to Total Film last year, McCarthy promised “a really modern, current twist.”

3. Direct hit

Paul Feig made one of the great comedies of this century in Bridesmaids (with, of course, McCarthy and Wiig), and has since confirmed that he’s a ladies’ man with The Heat and Spy. All three of these films demonstrate Feig’s uncanny knack for blending mirth and muscle in a succession of memorable set-pieces, so who better to ’bust some moves?

4. Absolute beginners

The promise of a third Ghostbusters movie has been with us since the sequel made its bow in 1989, but Feig quickly made it clear that he didn’t want to helm a part III set in an established universe with characters we know and a public that’s used to seeing ghosts. Smart. We take him at his word that there will be no “lazy filmmaking” on show.

5. City girls

Feig has wisely elected to again set the action in New York (though a fair deal of the shooting took place in Boston), the director saying it would be a “sin” to relocate the action. Stills of vehicles Ecto-1 (the ambulance-hearse combo) and Ecto-2 (a motorbike with lasers duct-taped to the handlebars) also show he’s down with the, ahem, spirit of the original.

6. Scary movie

Feig plans to put the horror into horror-comedy, assuring fans that Ghostbusters will make them giggle nervously. “How do you make comedy really scary?” he says, then answers his own question: “People in peril is one of the best forms of comedy.” This is the guy who was studying The Silence Of The

Lambs while considering making The Heat 2…

7. Phoning it in

We all remember Annie Potts as sharp-tongued receptionist Janine Melnitz in Ghostbusters and

Ghostbusters II. Well, in keeping with the sex-change antics, Chris Hemsworth will now be handling all calls. The Thor actor showed us his comic chops (and a whole lot more) in his cameo in last year’s Vacation reboot, so he’ll undoubtedly be game for whatever the ladies throw at him.

8. Guess who’s back?

Rick Moranis might have said no (“Why would I do just one day of shooting on something I did 30 years ago?”) but most of the original cast members are back for cameos as new characters, including Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson (after initially pooh-poohing the idea), Sigourney Weaver, the aforementioned Potts and, of course, Bill Murray. “I feel really good about it,” he says.

9. Size does matter

There are another 154 million reasons to feel good about the reboot – with a budget north of $150m, there’s no doubting Sony’s commitment, and we can expect gigantic setpieces oozing with state-of-the-art CGI. Of course, everyone loves the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man despite some dodgy optical compositing (he passes right through a church at one point), but now audiences expect more.

10. Dirty talk

Really, how can you not feel good about a movie that’s being directed by a guy who gives as good as he gets on Twitter? Fed up with the haters, Feig snapped back. Our favourite? “You, sir, are the biggest ass of them all… You’ve been ranting at me and my cast for months with misogyny and insults. So go fuck yourself. Goodnight.”