Ghostbusters Reboot: Paul Feig Cites The Walking Dead Influence

That Paul Feig guy sure is full of surprises. First he comes on board the long (and we mean long) in development ‘Ghostbusters 3;’ then he changes it from a sequel to a reboot; then he decides to recast with an all-female core quartet.

Now, Feig declares that one of his key influences would seem one of least likely for a family-friendly PG-13 property: TV’s ‘The Walking Dead.’

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Appearing on the popular zombie drama’s companion show 'The Talking Dead,' the director says his upcoming ‘Ghostbusters’ reboot is “very inspired by this show.

"What I love is how they play with the danger, they play with the scariness, but also the idea that it’s always about gauntlet run. And that’s something, an element I want to bring to this ‘Ghostbusters’ reboot is having to get through these various obstacles that are supernatural and all that. I really feed off of ‘The Walking Dead.’”

This is not the first time Feig has hinted at a stronger horror element to his film than was present in Ivan Reitman’s 1984 original and its 1989 follow-up, telling Empire magazine in December, ““I want ours to be scarier than the original, to be quite honest. (Screenwriter) Katie Dipold and I are so focused on wanting to do scary comedy. We don’t want to hold back.”

Still, before the hardened gorehounds get too excited, Feig concedes the reboot “[will] have to be PG-13… I would like to make it R-Rated, but I won’t.”

It may well be that Feig made his ‘Walking Dead’ remarks largely because of the nature of the show he was appearing on, and it would seem unlikely we’ll see his ‘Ghostbusters’ get anywhere near as grim and grisly as the AMC series frequently gets.

Still, his remarks do emphasise that he and his team are taking the suspense and the scares as seriously as the laughs, which might not have been a given considering his history with ‘Bridesmaids,’ ‘The Heat’ and the upcoming ‘Spy.’

With Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Leslie Jones and Kate McKinnon taking the place of Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson and the late Harold Ramis, Paul Feig’s ‘Ghostbusters’ is set to hit cinemas in July 2016.

Meanwhile, Feig’s next film ‘Spy’ - also starring Melissa McCarthy - hits UK cinemas on 5 June 2015.

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Picture Credit: AMC, Sony, WENN