A Ghostbusters reboot starring women in the leading roles is in the works and will be helmed by Paul Feig.

'Ghostbusters' Reboot

Feig confirmed the news that he’s working on a female-led Ghostbusters on Twitter Wednesday. “It’s official. I’m making a new Ghostbusters & writing it with @katiedippold & yes, it will star hilarious women,” wrote Feig, who quipped, “That’s who I’m gonna call.”

Feig previously teamed up with Katie Dippold on the massively successful summer buddy cop comedy The Heat, which starred Melissa McCarthy and Sandra Bullock. McCarthy had her breakout film role in Feig’s 2011 hit Bridesmaids, which also starred Saturday Night Live alums Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolf as well as Rebel Wilson, Rose Byrne, Wendi McLendon-Covey and Ellie Kemper.

Feig came to the Ghostbusters project after the latest attempt at making a third film in the franchise fell through. After Harold Ramis' death, no one wanted to take on the project. After he was approached, Feig, like the others, found the prospect of reviving the classic daunting. However, once he landed on the idea of a complete reboot with actresses in the leading roles, Feig felt as though he had something to work with.

"Ghostbusters is such a great thing and everybody knows it, and it’s such a great world. It’s a shame to just let this thing sit there," Feig told Entertainment Weekly. "My favorite thing to do is work with funny women. I was like, what if it was an all female cast? If they were all women? Suddenly, my mind kind of exploded: that would be really fun."

Feig’s Ghostbusters will be an origin story, as he decided to break away from the world of the past films, not wanting to compete with or ruin the memory of the comedy classics starring Bill Murray, Dan Akroyd and Harold Ramis. Asked if anyone from the original would be coming back, Ramis is open to it, though he makes it clear that they wouldn't be reprising their original roles. Any references to the original films will be discreet. "We want to do clever nods to it," he explained. "But not cloying nods to it."

So, what will Feig's spin on Ghostbusters, set in present day with modern ghost-busting gadgetry be like? "I think funny people in peril and in danger is one of the best forms of comedy, and I really like things to play very real while funny things are happening," Feig said. "So that’s what both Katie and I really want to do with this one is make it crazy funny but also you’re scared at the same time."

While Murray has already stated he'd love to see McCarthy, Wiig, Linda Cardellini and Emma Stone get cast in the movie, Feig is keeping his casting plans a secret for now – as well as the rest of the rough plot he and Dippold have created.