Movies
‘Ghostbusters’ Will Be “Really Scary” Origin Story, Feature New Technology!
It’s been a Ghostbusters bonanza as of late as Columbia Pictures appears to have officially set sail on an all-female reboot with The Heat directing writing duo, Paul Feig and Katie Dippold, respectively.
We learned in yesterday’s report that Feig’s plans (see below) for the reboot would to no longer connect it with the earlier movies but now launch a new series. Now, Feig tells EW that he plans on making Ghostbusters super scary.
“Both [screenwriter Katie Dippold] and I are obsessed with how do we make comedy really scary? The sequel to ‘The Heat’ was going to be pretty scary and funny. Almost like in a ‘Silence of the Lambs’ type thing but funny. I think funny people in peril and in danger is one of the best forms of comedy, and I really like things to play very real while funny things are happening. So that’s what both Katie and I really want to do with this one is make it crazy funny but also you’re scared at the same time.”
I don’t exactly get his reference, but I do appreciate that he’s not going to goof on the franchise. I want Feig and Dippold to take the new film seriously. I love a scary movie that’s also a good time (see Drag Me To Hell) – I think the original Ghostbusters is a bit spooky, even though it’s also pretty funny.
They also revealed it to be an origin story (what’s with Sony and origin stories?) that will feature all sorts of new technology.
“I love origin stories. That’s my favorite thing. I love the first one so much I don’t want to do anything to ruin the memory of that. So it just felt like, let’s just restart it because then we can have new dynamics. I want the technology to be even cooler. I want it to be really scary, and I want it to happen in our world today that hasn’t gone through it so it’s like, oh my God what’s going on?”
Again, he keeps saying the right things. Keeping it grounded in reality is going to be key to the film’s success among the audience. Still, his body of work isn’t comforting as neigh The Heat or Bridemaids felt real to me. At least they’re fun…
So, with all of that said, will we or will we not see the original Busters – Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson – in the new movie? Feig says it’s possible.
“Well, I mean, look, those are my comedy heroes. So as far as I’m concerned, anybody wants to come back I welcome with open arms. It would just be in different roles now, but it would be fun to figure out how to do that.”
This was a lengthy interview where Feig says a lot of good things – and none of it sounds like pandering to Ghostbusters fans. He clearly gets what makes a horror comedy work, and is going to swing for the fences, the only question is whether or not he’s the right guy to pull it off…
Movies
’28 Years Later’ – Ralph Fiennes, Jodie Comer, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson Join Long Awaited Sequel
Danny Boyle and Alex Garland (Annihilation, Men), the director and writer behind 2002’s hit horror film 28 Days Later, are reteaming for the long-awaited sequel, 28 Years Later. THR reports that the sequel has cast Jodie Comer (Alone in the Dark, “Killing Eve”), Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Kraven the Hunter), and Ralph Fiennes (The Menu).
The plan is for Garland to write 28 Years Later and Boyle to direct, with Garland also planning on writing at least one more sequel to the franchise – director Nia DaCosta is currently in talks to helm the second installment.
No word on plot details as of this time, or who Comer, Taylor-Johnson, and Fiennes may play.
28 Days Later received a follow up in 2007 with 28 Weeks Later, which was executive produced by Boyle and Garland but directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo. Now, the pair hope to launch a new trilogy with 28 Years Later. The plan is for Garland to write all three entries, with Boyle helming the first installment.
Boyle and Garland will also produce alongside original producer Andrew Macdonald and Peter Rice, the former head of Fox Searchlight Pictures, the division of one-time studio Twentieth Century Fox that originally backed the British-made movie and its sequel.
The original film starred Cillian Murphy “as a man who wakes up from a coma after a bicycle accident to find England now a desolate, post-apocalyptic collapse, thanks to a virus that turned its victims into raging killers. The man then navigates the landscape, meeting a survivor played by Naomie Harris and a maniacal army major, played by Christopher Eccleston.”
Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer) is on board as executive producer, though the actor isn’t set to appear in the film…yet.
Talks of a third installment in the franchise have been coming and going for the last several years now – at one point, it was going to be titled 28 Months Later – but it looks like this one is finally getting off the ground here in 2024 thanks to this casting news. Stay tuned for more updates soon!
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