If Jason Reitman’s new Ghostbusters film is really going to come out next year, he better get things moving. And that’s just what he’s doing, potentially filling two of the key members of his cast.
Variety reports that Carrie Coon and Finn Wolfhard are in talks to join the film, which is being called a direct sequel to the 1984 Ivan Reitman original. According to the story, the film centres on a single mother, played by Coon, with Wolfhard playing her son. There’s no word, however, if either, neither, or both or will strap on the proton packs.
What we do know is this family has “mysterious ties back to the original 1984 movie” and that “early rumours that the Ghostbusters movie features a team of kids turn out to be inaccurate,” according to Entertainment Weekly. “The movie is actually more about a family, with the mum as the lead figure. Casting is still underway for other characters in the film,” EW reports.
The sentence “the film centres on a single mother” certainly isn’t the first thing we expected to hear after Reitman’s recent controversial comments, but it’s welcome and makes a lot of sense.
Jason Reitman’s movies have been largely about complicated women (see: Juno, Young Adult, Tully, etc). So to have one at the center of this movie, even if it’s Ghostbusters, is very on brand. Plus Carrie Coon is the shit. See Fargo, Infinity War, The Leftovers, etc.
Wolfhard, on the other hand, seems like a very obvious choice. A good one, but obvious—and not just because he dressed up as a Ghostbuster in the second season of Stranger Things. Among that series’ young cast, he seems to be the one branching out the most.
He stars in the It movies; he played a large role in the recent awards season, including a creepy Independent Spirit Awards appearance; and he’s in a few interesting upcoming films too. He’s the cool nerd of the moment, and that makes him perfect for this project.
The new Ghostbusters film is scheduled for release July 2020.