Dan Aykroyd delighted with new Ghostbusters cast

After yesterday's Ghostbusters casting news, which confirmed Melissa McCarthy and Kristen Wiig for the reboot, original 'buster Dan Aykroyd has revealed he's “delighted” with the franchise's new direction.

In a jokey nod to one of his ancestors, who was a paranormal investigator, Aykroyd added: “My great grandfather, Dr. Sam Aykroyd, the original Ghostbuster, was a man who empowered women in his day and this is a beautiful development in the legacy of our family business.”

Just yesterday, it was revealed that director Paul Feig's all-female Ghostbusters reinvention will star Melissa McCarthy and Kristen Wiig alongside Saturday Night Live players Leslie Jones and Kate McKinnon.

While it remains to be seen if Aykroyd will make a torch-passing appearance in the film, his comments will perhaps pacify fans of the 1984 original, some of whom have been vocal in their lack of enthusiasm for the reboot.

Meanwhile, Feig revealed that he's looking forward to creating a “scarier” comedy than the original film.

Ghostbusters is due in cinemas 22 July 2016.

Josh Winning has worn a lot of hats over the years. Contributing Editor at Total Film, writer for SFX, and senior film writer at the Radio Times. Josh has also penned a novel about mysteries and monsters, is the co-host of a movie podcast, and has a library of pretty phenomenal stories from visiting some of the biggest TV and film sets in the world. He would also like you to know that he "lives for cat videos..." Don't we all, Josh. Don't we all.