Who ya gonna call? Apparently, some of the funniest women in comedy! Yes, it’ll be hard to beat the dream team of Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, Dan Aykroyd and Ernie Hudson, but if anyone’s up to the task, it’s certainly the four women who will be strapping on their proton packs for the highly-anticipated Ghostbusters 3 . The Hollywood Reporter revealed today that Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones, Kate McKinnon and Melissa McCarthy will be cracking wise and blasting ghouls in the next installment of the iconic franchise. McCarthy and Wiig both worked with director Paul Feig on the 2011 hit Bridesmaids. McKinnon and Jones are two of the most buzzed-about standouts from the current SNL cast. (If you’ve never seen McKinnon’s flawless Justin Bieber impression , click on that link ASAP.) This will be the first major film role for both women. The announcement of the cast is a major step forward for a film that’s been mired in development hell for several years. It was originally to serve as a straightforward sequel starring the original cast, but director Ivan Reitman dropped out after the death of Ramis last year. Murray, Aykroyd and Hudson followed suit shortly thereafter. When Feig announced his intention to reboot the franchise with an all-female cast, some fans were skeptical. (Hudson stated flat-out that he doesn’t think it’ll work). But after the announcement of a cast like this we can’t imagine that many fans aren’t eagerly anticipating what’s sure to be a different (and hilarious) take on four beloved characters. 36 Memorable Movie Posters 1. Gone Girl Poster Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike star in Gone Girl. The latter earned an Oscar nomination for her role.
“Ghostbusters” star Harold Ramis has died at age 69. The actor, writer and director’s other film credits include “Stripes,” “Groundhog Day” and “Analyze This.” Ramis…
Who you gonna call to cast Ghostbusters 3 — if it ever gets made, that is? Don’t count on Michael Cera . I got a brief moment to talk to the actor at the Sundance Film Festival on Thursday where his latest movie, Sebastián Silva’s Crystal Fairy helped kick off the festival, and I took the opportunity to ask him if he’d been approached at all about the much-discussed Ghostbusters 3 film that co-creators Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis want to start shooting this year . “I haven’t been approached,” said Cera, who expressed some doubt that the picture was happening. When I then asked if he would be interested in appearing in Ghostbusters 3 if the stars — and a good script — aligned, he replied: “That would be a tough one. The first movie meant so much to me. It could be dangerous.” Smart kid. Cera loves the original Ghostbusters so much that he doesn’t want to appear in anything that’s not going to honor it. And yet, I was surprised by the answer. Aykroyd and Ramis have both said that the plot of Ghostbusters 3 will involve the original crew handing off their Proton packs to a new generation, and Cera’s well-known GB love and his deadpan style make him an ideal candidate. In a poll Movieline conducted last fall, Cera was readers number-two choice, behind Seth Rogen , to be part of the new Ghostbusters team. I didn’t get much of a chance to talk to the actor because he was swarmed by Sundancers congratulating him for his performance in the completely improvised Crystal Fairy. Cera plays an obnoxiously self-absorbed American who undergoes an emotional transformation when he invites a free-spirited but damaged woman who calls herself Crystal Fairy (Gaby Hoffmann) to accompany him and his Chilean friends on a road trip to do Mescaline. Both Cera and Hoffmann ( You Can Count on Me ) give intense, layered and remarkably ego-free performances in this dark comedy that comes with a real emotional punch at the end. (Silva has two movies with Cera in them at the festival. The other is Magic Magic with Juno Temple.) Hoffmann’s being doing exceptional work for years, but her portrayal of the New Agey Crystal Fairy should put her in line for some real marquee roles based on effusive audience reaction Thursday night. Twice during the film, she gets completely and unabashedly naked, which inspired one woman in the audience to yell out “Free style!” in reference to the actress’s unruly, character-appropriate pubic hair. After the screening, Silva said that his scriptless movie, which was shot in 12 days, is about “the birth of compassion in someone’s life” and is based on an actual encounter he years ago with a woman who actually called herself Crystal Fairy. “I hope she finds out,” said Silva, who’d like to get back in touch with his muse. Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
If Lindsay Lohan doesn’t go back to jail as a result of today’s news, I have an idea for a film project for her: It’s a remake of Groundhog Day in which LiLo plays the Bill Murray role and wakes up every day to new criminal charges until she gets her act together. Since Tina Fey is the last person to get a memorable performance out of Lohan, she should write and direct. Harold Ramis , who wrote and directed the original Groundhog Day , could have a cameo as the wise prison warden, and…Jesus, why am I even bothering? I used to actually believe that Lohan had it in her to carve out a great second act in her life and career by stopping the nightclubbing, cutting off her embarrassing parents and devoting herself to work. But after five trips to rehab, the latest critical savaging she received for her performance in Liz & Dick and reports of her arrest Thursday morning and new criminal charges that are about to be filed against her, I think it may finally be time to declare Lohan a lost cause. As you probably know, Lohan was busted around 4 a.m. on Thursday morning after she allegedly punched woman at a Manhattan nightclub. Earlier that night, she’d caught Justin Bieber’s concert at Madison Square Garden, but apparently the good vibrations didn’t carry LiLo through the night. The NY Daily News reports that after exchanging words with 28-year-old Tiffany Eve Mitchell at the Chelsea nightclub Avenue, Lohan slugged the alleged victim in the face. TMZ reported that Lohan, 26, was arrested as she attempted to flee the scene in a friend’s car. “Are you kidding? Oh my God, are you kidding?” Lohan can be heard saying on the video of her arrest that the celebrity site posted. (I’ve embedded it below.) Lohan was issued a desk appearance ticket for misdemeanor assault and faces a Jan. 11 court date, but that’s just the beginning of her troubles. As TMZ reports, “she’ll face a total of four new criminal charges on the same day on different coasts.” In addition to the above charge, law enforcement sources told the website that the Santa Monica City Attorney will also hit Lohan with three criminal charges stemming from her car accident there last June on the Pacific Coast Highway. Lohan’s Porsche slammed into the rear of an 18-wheeler and though she told police she was a passenger in the car, it turned out she had been driving. The charges: Giving false information to a peace officer, obstructing or resisting a police officer in the performance of his duty, and reckless driving. (Meanwhile, Lifetime reportedly may sue Lohan for breach of contract because this incident happened during the shooting of Liz & Dick and the cable network’s insurance policy on the actress forbid her from driving.) Lohan is still on probation for felony jewel theft and TMZ notes that when the actress is arraigned on these charges, probably next week, the judge will revoke her probation and set a hearing to “determine if she will go to jail for a long period of time.” I can already see a tearful Lohan pleading for leniency, but will the judge, or anybody, be moved? At this point, it’s hard to feel any empathy — or even pity — for a 26-year-old actress who has squandered what should have been the most productive and exhilarating years of her career. Lohan could have been wowing us with her acting talent, but instead she chose to amuse and, ultimately, bore us with her bad behavior. [ TMZ , New York Daily News ] Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
Presenting the best-worst Bill Murray rumor of the week: The National Enquirer (I know, I know) reports that the actor has finally gotten around to that Ghostbusters threequel script he had been avoiding for months — by shredding it and sending the carnage to Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis along with a note that read, “No one wants to pay money to see fat, old men chasing ghosts!” Fictional tabloid Bill Murray kind of has a point. [ The Playlist ]
At this point, you might have an easier time indexing every bit of information in the latest WikiLeaks cables than sifting through the last 10-plus years of rumors surrounding Ghostbusters 3 . And then, today news hits that the movie is indeed still in development, but not confirmed for production because… Bill Murray hasn’t signed on yet. Okay, so Aykroyd’s on the radio reassuring everyone about the sequel and Murray’s keeping his distance. Has anything at all changed since the beginning of this ridiculously over-hyped and probably unnecessary project? Just to double check, I waded through pages of old news and rumors to construct some sort of working timeline about the film’s development. Might want to take a painkiller in advance for this post.
