9 Things We Learned About Paul Feig's 'Ghostbusters'

The trailer for Paul Feig's Ghostbusters hit the web this morning, but I got a chance to attend a screening and question and answer session yesterday on the Sony studio lot. Ghostbusters fans from around the United States gathered (a couple dozen even flew in) to get a sneak peek at the new trailer and get a chance to meet the filmmakers behind the new film. You can watch the Ghostbusters trailer elsewhere on the site. In this post, I recap what we learned from the discussion that followed the trailer premiere with director Paul Feig, screenwriter  Katie Dippold, and producer Ivan Reitman (who, yes, directed the original two films in the 1980s).

Last year, it was announced that Sony had created a new division of their company called Ghost Corps, led by Dan Aykroyd and Ivan Reitman, to control the future of the Ghostbusters universe (which includes movies, TV shows, games, books and probably much more). What we actually didn't know is that Sony recreated the exterior of the iconic Ghostbusters firehouse on the Sony lot to house this new division.

Below you can see some of the photos I took inside the Ghost Corps lobby, the production offices where the future of the Ghostbusters films are being crafted right now.

They had an ECTO-2 motorcycle prop from the new movie on display, and even had their own fake fire pole, as well as a Gozer head mounted on one wall between teaser posters for the original 1980s films. Very cool.

After the trailer screening, another colleague pointed out to me that the trailer is actually inaccurate: the original film had three scientists, not four. Winston was added as a fourth Ghostbuster in an effort to play the everyman, and this new version of the Ghostbusters has the same set-up. Feig says "it was really important to us to make them scientists."

Because that's what I love about the first one, it's a idea of that Ivan, Dan and Harold [Ramis] had of funny people fighting the paranormal with science that just really resonated with us. And so we really wanted to make sure that we treated them as scientists. So we have Erin's character played by Kristen Wiig is a, she's a particle physicist. And then Melissa's character basically she's an expert in the paranormal. She's studied her whole life. And then Holtzmann is a nuclear engineer who creates their inventions. And then you have Leslie Jones who joins the team because she knows New York really well. So she's kind of the guide to New York and she also is kind of ghost sighting.

So it sounds like Leslie Jones' character Patty Tolan is very much the Winston component of this team from the original film. Screenwriter Katie Dippold admitted that it was also "very important" for them to have an "everyman like in the original."

We talked to so many physicists to download us on science. And I would listen to people talk and just, so for me it's just like in the original in that it was so fun to see that person relate to the scientists.

We'll see a bunch of different kinds of ghosts in the movie, but the early focus will be on dead human ghosts. Paul says this is because he is such a science nut and wanted the ghosts "to be what I always considered a ghost to be, which is dead."

And so even though we play with that and there's other types of ghosts in it and we have fun with sort of what comes up, I wanted the main ghost to be basically humanoid but again, you're gonna get every kind.  But especially from the early interactions with the Ghostbusters and the supernatural.

Another reason for this is because it gives the actors something real to act against.

It also comes from me wanting to on the set, I don't want my actors acting with tennis balls as they do in some of these CGI movies. And so like Beth Strauss who plays the first ghost, she filmed in this LED suit with that dress with these LEDs and it's kind of a thing that kind of picked her up and whooshed her forward and then with our CGI team, we go in and then play with that look.

Feig also teases that we'll be seeing "ghost imagery that I don't think has really been done before."

It's really scientifically based. On the science of ghosts. But just the idea of sort of exactly how the auras come off of them, the particulates that are coming off and how much of it is dissolving in air and in the real world... So we play with that a lot. But you're gonna see all types of ghosts. But it was really important to have that sort of real ghost quality to them.

While Slimer might appear again in this film, they are hoping to introduce some new ghosts to the Ghostbusters universe. And Ivan Retiman notes that they never expected Slimer to become iconic.

When Dan Aykroyd did the very first treatment of [Ghostbusters], this prior to me, he thought it was gonna be a vehicle for [John] Belushi and himself. And Belushi passed away while we were working on this draft. We just sort of humorously referred to him as this Belushi ghost. And at that point we didn't know what that meant, but we know he was gonna eat a lot. And but we never thought Slimer was gonna continue in like an iconographic character that would stick with Ghostbusters. But we also didn't expect the success that we had. So the fact that here we are talking about Slimer and being happy that he's in the new movie is kind of a wonderful surprise. And I'm sure there's gonna be characters like that, but none of us is thinking about that. Ghosts in this version of it will hopefully have the same kind of staying power.

As for future movies, Paul mentioned that any of the ghosts that appear in this film "can always reappear."

Like the original Ghostbusters, the comedy actors were able to play with the script during filming. Ivan Reitman notes that Harold Ramis "used to say the last draft of the script is written on the set." Screenwriter Katie Dippold was on set for every day of filming, and says it was a true collaboration.

Well, fortunately they're all amazing improvisers. As a writer, you can feel very good that you did as good a job as possible. And so I feel there's also like an energy like they would say something on set and then me and Paul would see what direction they're going in with their collaboration like even in the scene. You know, like and we'll try something. And like Melissa will throw something out there and ultimately find direction. So then we'll throw in an alternate joke. And then Paul would pitch jokes. And this is all happening in the moment.

Feig adds that while they filmed Katie would always scribbling new jokes onto post-it notes during the scenes.

So as I'm at the monitor doing stuff like post-it notes are getting handed to me. I'm like that's funny. Say this, say that. And it is it's a real free for all, but that's what's so great is you build this energy in the moment because we feel that the script is great going in, but again, it's just a blueprint. Even though it's funny. If everything fell apart that day, you'd still have that. But it's in those moments, that's when the magic happens. And as Ivan knows making comedies is all about capturing lightning in a bottle. You want things to happen for the first time 'cause that's the funny scene in there. [...] Whenever we can, we always try to shoot all people at the same time so when they surprise somebody else it's on screen for the first time. There's nothing worse than shooting one direction, somebody knocks out the funniest joke ever behind the camera. You're like can you do that again? And it's just never the same. So it's we just always try to capture that.

Katie thinks the director's relationship with the cast also improved many of the scenes.

You and Melissa tend to have a shorthand that's really magical to watch. And I had to imagine that was how it was with you guys in the original.

Ivan Reitman admits that having had worked with Bill and Harold on previous projects helped "create freshness in the moments" of the original Ghostbusters.