Melissa McCarthy Eyed For Ghostbusters Reboot, New Actresses Join Shortlist

Since the announcement of Paul Feig’s Ghostbusters reboot, one of the central names heading up a potential wishlist to star has been Melissa McCarthy. Hotly tipped to be leading the reboot, which will see a whole new roster of female spook hunters on the rampage, it has now emerged that McCarthy is in early talks to secure the role.

According to THR, the Bridesmaids star must first overcome the problem of her packed schedule in order to sign on the dotted line. If her commitments to CBS comedy Mike And Molly and next project with husband Ben Falcone – Michelle Darnell – can be accommodated, there’s a strong possibility that a deal will be ironed out. Currently, the plan is for McCarthy to head into production on the latter in March in time to shoot Ghostbusters in June.

The actress’ working relationship with Feig has brought the actress a great deal of success, with her turns in Bridesmaids and The Heat springboarding her to an array of other work. Here’s hoping that if she does appear in Ghostbusters, we’ll see another side to her comedy antics and not another retread of her familiar routine.

As it stands now, McCarthy is the only actor currently engaged in strong negotiations with Sony. Previous reports suggested that Jennifer Laurence and Rebel Wilson had also met with Feig to discuss the movie, but THR affirms that neither actress is a ‘serious contender.’ In the same breath, the outlet highlights two new additions to the shortlist, Jillian Bell from Workaholics, and Saturday Night Live comedienne Cecily Strong, who are both preparing to meet with Feig in the near future.

To end, a brief synopsis also accompanied the piece adding further fuel to the fire concerning cameos. It’s been made clear in the past that the reboot will not factor in events from the previous movies – but that doesn’t mean the original crew can’t make an appearance:

The Ghostbusters reboot is said to be an origin story of new characters who take up ghostbusting and not a “hand off” movie from the original 1984 film (though there is a small chance that surviving Busters Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Ernie Hudson could make cameo appearances).

McCarthy’s next big screen outing will be her third Feig collaboration, Spy, which is due to hit theaters on May 22nd. We’ll keep you posted if she reaches an agreement concerning Ghostbusters.