Entertainment

We Don't Need An All-Male 'Ghostbusters' Reboot

by Aramide Tinubu

Though it's happening at a snail's pace, some progress has been made for women in Hollywood. There has been some effort for better and more robust roles for actresses in the male-dominated industry. The all-female Ghostbusters reboot slated for release in 2016, is a major step towards gender equality and I can't be more thrilled to see how it all comes together. However, it looks as though Iron Man 3 writer Drew Pearce might still be hoping for an all-male Ghostbusters reboot in the near future. Pearce told MTV News,

There’s a gigantic bold idea that I came up with, and the Russo brothers — who did Captain America: The Winter Soldier and are doing Civil War at the moment — and Ivan Reitman, who did the original movie, are going to take that and run with it.

Though this idea seems fantastic, I can't understand why Sony Pictures, Reitman, the Russo brothers, and Pearce feel the need to create a reboot that indirectly competes with the all-woman version. Parks and Recreations writer Katie Dippold and director Paul Feig teamed up to write a story about a Columbia University professor and writer who is laughed out of academia when her book proclaiming ghosts are real resurfaces for the Melissa McCarthy starrer. The amazing cast also includes Kristin Wiig as Professor Erin Gilbert and Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones as fellow ghostbusters. I'm not sure why you would want to compete with such an amazing cast and formula. The film is bound to be a mega-hit, and setting up an alternate Ghostbusters reboot with dudes just seems ill-advised.

Female-driven comedies have been tearing up the box office not just in recent years with films like Amy Schumer's Trainwreck and Wiig's Bridesmaids but also in the past with more vintage films like Mean Girls and Clueless. When women are given the opportunity to stretch their comedic chops they make magic. So yeah, I'm pretty confident that Feig's Ghostbusters is going to be a hit. And that's why I'm unclear on why an all-male Ghostbusters reboot is necessary, especially since the original film follows that same formula. Just when we've seemingly got the ball rolling, I'm not sure why we would want to step backwards.

But thankfully, things aren't exactly coming together ASAP. Pearce took to Twitter to explain the comments he made to MTV News. He stated that he only has an idea, and that no actual script had been written as of yet. Pearce also clarified that his idea is to have a mix-gendered team Ghostbusters. Still not seeing how we need that too, but OK.

As far as the cast, when MTV News asked about the rumors that Channing Tatum and Chris Pratt are being considered for the project Pearce said,

That’s definitely the cast we’ve been thinking about as we approach the project. Whether that happens or not is very much above my pay grade. It’s just my job to give them something exciting that maybe they’ll do.

While I love both Tatum and Pratt, there are certainly no shortage of opportunities for them in Hollywood right now. With Tatum coming hot off Magic Mike XXL and Pratt locked in with the Jurassic World franchise and Guardians of The Galaxy, I would say that these two are juggling some very full plates. If Pearce does end up writing another Ghostbusters reboot, I'm hoping he really manages to make it extremely different from Feig's. Otherwise, I'll bet that it will go the way of Mean Girls' "fetch."

Image: Giphy