The director of the forthcoming female-fronted Ghostbusters reboot, Paul Feig, has revealed his take is partly-inspired by ultra-gory cult favourite zombie TV series The Walking Dead.
Speaking on an episode of the US show’s recap companion series Talking Dead, Feig said he wanted to bring some of the “scariness” and “gauntlet run elements” of The Walking Dead to the new film. His comments have not been interpreted as signalling that the new movie will switch from ghosts to zombies, or adopt the highly popular show’s fondness for blood and guts.
“I will say, I was very inspired by this show,” said Feig, when asked to explain the connection between his take on Ghostbusters and the AMC horror series. “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.”
The cast of the new Ghostbusters: Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones and Kate McKinnon. Photograph: Danny Moloshok / Reuters; Allen Berezovsky / WireImage; NBCU Photobank via Getty
Feig has previously signalled that his version of Ghostbusters, which will star Bridesmaids’ Melissa McCarthy and Kristen Wiig alongside Saturday Night Live regulars Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones, will be “scarier” than previous iterations. However, he also told Empire magazine in December that the film would be shot in a way that younger teenagers could get in to see it in the US.
“The reason I do a lot of R-rated comedies is that you want a movie to feel honest,” said Feig. “But the Ghostbusters world doesn’t need that level of swearing. We’ll have to be PG-13 with this one. I would like to make it R-rated, but I won’t. You want the biggest number of people to watch it and not be put off by it.”