Paul Feig’s New York-Based Ghostbusters Reboot To Include ‘Fun Nods’ To Original

Trying to imagine a Ghostbusters movie located in a city other than New York is no easy task. The first two films made the historic metropolis a supporting character and it is undoubtedly just as integral to the ‘busters universe as the actual spook catchers themselves. Where early chatter about Paul Feig’s reboot has avoided nailing down a specific location, it turns out that the comedy director isn’t keen to uproot the beloved franchise.

Talking to Empire about the future threequel/reboot, he spoke passionately about his intentions to keep this one factor of his re-do the same: “To me it’s such a New York movie and the biggest sin would be to pull it out of there,” Feig said. “I just love New York and, selfishly, I just want to shoot in New York.” Selfish or not, it will undoubtedly keep a common thread running through the movies, although he went to to explicitly state his version would not pander to the self-referential trend:

“We’re not recreating the old movie, but we want to do just enough fun nods that the fans will go, ‘Oh, okay, they’re acknowledging that the other movie existed.’ I like to watch parodies, but I don’t want to do them because they’re too referential. Comedy that’s too referential has such a short shelf life, whereas comedy that’s based around characters will be relatable 2000 years from now because people won’t change that much.”

Speaking of the characters, the majority of discussion on the movie has revolved around which actresses will land a leading role. Since the movie was announced in its rebooted, all-female cast form, practically every A-lister working today has been mentioned in connection to the movie. Leading the pack, and recently reported to be a serious contender for a role, is none other than Feig’s three-time collaborator, Melissa McCarthy. He addressed this topic recently, reiterating earlier news that her involvement all depends on her schedule.

Finally, when prompted to discuss his overall interest in reinvigorating the popular franchise, the director paid homage to the original movies, while making a case for his modernized take:

“A lot of people ask why I didn’t create my own thing, but Ghostbusters never ran out of steam, it’s such a great idea, It’s such a fun franchise so why not bring it to a new generation? The old movie is never going to not exist. It’s not my plan to erase every copy! Hopefully they can all live together.”

Happy to hear that the new Ghostbusters will be set in the old stomping ground? Or, would you prefer to see the reboot pack up and relocate to a fresh environment? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.