Who you gonna call? Not just Emma Stone, Jennifer Lawrence, Rebel Wilson & co, apparently. After years of false starts, Sony’s development of a third "Ghostbusters" movie took a new lease of life this year, as "Freaks & Geeks" and "Bridesmaids" mastermind Paul Feig signed on to develop a new reboot of the seminal ’80s supernatural comedy that would focus on a team of female "Ghostbusters."
Almost every comedy-minded actress in Hollywood has expressed interest, with reports in recent days that the likes of Stone and Lawrence are being targeted by Feig for the project, while Ryan Gosling is said to be interested in playing the male lead. But Gosling might not be the only A-list dude to be slapping on a backpack, as The Daily Beast‘s picking at the bones of the Sony leak have revealed that there might be a second "Ghostbusters" project on the way.
The idea comes, reportedly, from Channing Tatum, along with producing partner Reid Carolin and The Russo Brothers, directors of "Captain America: The Winter Soldier," who have apparently come up with a mythology-heavy approach reminiscent of Nolan’s "Batman Begins," namechecked by Tatum in a hilariously-phrased email along the lines of this one…
The idea would be for Tatum to star alongside freshly-minted A-lister Chris Pratt, who’s been looking to do a movie with his friend C-Tates: the pair worked together on "Ten Years" a little while back. The email, dated from August, suggests that the pair were willing to develop the movie alongside Feig’s female-heavy version, sharing the same universe, with the Russos (who are apparently close to Feig, presumably from their shared TV directing days on "Arrested Development") suggesting that the "The Heat" helmer could direct both projects while they produce.
Sony apparently reacted warmly, as you might imagine given the A-list team they’d been handed. That said, it remains to be seen how Feig responded — it’s possible he could have shut down the Tatum/Pratt project, and as enticing as that pairing is, we’d rather see Feig’s fresher take move forward, at least first. So is there fire where there was smoke? Or is this another spitball that the Sony leak has made public at its earliest stage of gestation? We’ll see…