All Female Cast Named for ‘Ghostbusters’ Reboot

The "Ghostbusters" reboot will include an all female cast.

Director Paul Feig revealed via Twitter that Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Leslie Jones and Kate McKinnon would replace the roles played by Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson and the late Harold Ramis in his reboot of the comedy.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the "negotiations are ongoing, but the quartet are expected to sign on as the specter-seeking, poltergeist-punishing, phantom-phollowing foursome in the reboot."

Feig has worked with actresses Wiig and McCarthy in the hit comedy, "Bridesmaids." He continued to work with McCarthy in "Heat" and in the upcoming "Spy." The last two actresses are veterans of "Saturday Night Live."

"My favorite thing to do is work with funny women," Feig told Entertainment Weekly back in October. "I was like, what if it was an all-female cast? If they were all women? Suddenly, my mind kind of exploded: that would be really fun."

The first two "Ghostbusters" movies date back to the 1980s. The plot followed a group of four men and their ghost-catching business. The first movie, which debuted in 1984, made almost $300 million. The popularity of the film launched a Ghostbusters media franchise. In 1989, "Ghostbusters II" came out followed by two animated television series called "The Real Ghostbusters" and "Extreme Ghostbusters," as well as several video games.

With the success of the first two movies, Sony wanted to add a "Ghostbusters III." However, the comedy's original director, Ivan Reitman dropped out of the project after Ramis died last year. Since then the screenplay of the movie was severely rewritten, leading to Murray's vow that he would not return.

Filming is expected to start during the summer in New York. The movie is set to be released in theaters on July 22, 2016.