Ghostbusters Movie Release Date, Cast News: Reboot Film Confirms Leads Will Be All Female

It has been no secret that the director for the upcoming "Ghostbusters" movie, Paul Feig, was potentially planning on casting four women in the lead roles, effectively replacing the all-male cast of the first two movies. However, when Feig announced that one member had now signed on and the other three were close to finalizing their deals, some greeted the announcement with disappointment.

Feig made the announcement about the movie's cast on Twitter and also confirmed that the eagerly awaited movie would release on July 22, 2016.

Following the unconventional announcement by Feig, Sony stated that while Melissa McCarthy had already signed on for the film, they were close to signing deals with three others, namely Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones and Kate McKinnon.

Before announcing the cast, Feig even addressed concerns about an "Estrogen Powered Ghostbusters," and said that it was a non-issue because women can be as funny as men and the move was not just a gimmick.

There has been tremendous interest in the cast of the upcoming "Ghostbusters" movie and following the announcement of the all-female cast, some took to the internet to decry the dropping of the original all-male quartet.

However, despite the grumblings of some, the director's move to reboot the franchise with a full female cast got massive support from Bill Murray, who of course starred in the first two Ghostbusters movies.

Murray had earlier even suggested some names for the cast to Feig and they included Wiig and McCarthy. After the casting news was announced Murray even complimented Feig and described his picks as an "awesome cast."

"Ghostbusters 3" had been trapped in a production abyss after Murray refused to sign on for it, and in 2013 when Harold Ramis died, all plans for a sequel were put to rest. So it was no surprise when Feig stated that the upcoming movie would not be a sequel and instead would be a complete reboot of the franchise.

Wiig and McCarthy have worked with Feig previously and appeared together in "Bridesmaids" and McCarthy also starred on "The Heat."