Columbia Pictures
As Paul Feig’s Ghostbusters reboot continues to film in Boston this month, we’ve got word of additional stars joining the cast in supporting roles. According to The Wrap, Andy Garcia is the biggest new name, and he’ll be playing the Mayor of New York City (yeah, they’re shooting Boston for New York for some sad reason). We can assume the Oscar-nominated actor will have the same sort of presence as David Margulies did as Mayor Lenny in the original two movies, probably after the heroes have a similar run-in with the law while busting ghosts.
Let’s not forget that this isn’t a remake, so Garcia isn’t necessarily taking on the same mayoral role. Nor should we assume that any of the other added actors, particularly HBO favorites Michael K. Williams (The Wire; Boardwalk Empire — and he also just joined the Assassin’s Creed movie) or Matt Walsh (Veep), are playing the new Walter Peck (William Atherton’s iconic asshole role in the original) or any other EPA agent. All we know is that their character are respectively named Hawkins and Rourke, both of which sound like they could be human adversaries of some sort.
The Wrap’s headline also confirms Cicely Strong will join her fellow SNL ladies (those being Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones and Kate McKinnon as the title characters alongside popular SNL host Melissa McCarthy) in the movie. Her role is also not specified, but months ago she was rumored for a major part, maybe the largest non-Ghostbuster and non-villain role. Besides Chris Hemsworth’s secretary, that is. If this were an actual gender-swapped remake all the way, I’d guess she was the equivalent of Louis (Rick Moranis’s role in the originals).
Even without the new Ghostbusters being a copy of the 1984 movie, I won’t be surprised if there are still a number of parallels to keep the nostalgia tied down, like a balloon for a child (let that go and the fans will wail like a bratty toddler). After seeing Jurassic World play almost like a point-by-point rehash in the name of “Easter eggs,” I can’t doubt another franchise restart won’t do the same.
Update: Deadline has followed yesterday’s casting news with another: Neil Casey, a writer for SNL and Inside Amy Schumer who also recently appeared on Veep and who makes an amusing appearance in Fort Tilden, will play the movie’s main villain, whose name is Rowan.
Ghostbusters is due in theaters on July 22, 2016.
Revisit Mayor Lenny below and consider whether Garcia will do as good a job filling Gracie Mansion:
Related Topics: Ghostbusters
