Other than casting the cats and dogs who will live together, Paul Feig has reportedly completed the most important step of his all-female Ghostbusters reboot by choosing said female Ghostbusters. It’s Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, and Leslie Jones, according to Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, and—if you want to take his word for it—Feig himself, who tweeted a photo of the foursome with no explanation, allowing it to linger there like a phantom that’s soon to be dispatched by a team of comical ladies.
McCarthy’s participation seemed all but a given once Feig signed on alongside The Heat writer Kate Dippold, and after readers checked out Feig’s IMDb credits. Along those same lines, it seemed apparent from the beginning that Feig might seek to reteam with his Bridesmaids star Kristen Wiig for another movie about a female ensemble that’s haunted by specters (in Bridesmaids, of loneliness; in Ghostbusters, of dead people). The participation of McKinnon and Jones was more of a question, though with reports that Feig was looking at cast members of Saturday Night Live like Cecily Strong, it seems natural that he would also notice McKinnon and Jones. For Jones’ part, she even participated in a recent skit that could now be seen as a Ghostbusters audition tape.
Anyway, all sources say that negotiations are still ongoing, but Feig seems confident that they’ll soon be convinced to join one of the most trusted directors of female comedies on his revival of one of film’s most beloved franchises in time for a summer shoot—unless, say, Bill Murray suddenly changes his mind.