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Wiig, McCarthy, McKinnon, Jones: Our 10 next roles for the Ghostbusters foursome

On Jan. 27, 2015, director Paul Feig posted four photos on his Twitter account: head shots of Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon, and Leslie Jones. A few hours later, he sent out a follow-up tweet: "In other news, #Ghostbusters will be hitting theatres July 22, 2016. Save the date!"

On Jan. 27, 2015, director Paul Feig posted four photos on his Twitter account: head shots of Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon, and Leslie Jones. A few hours later, he sent out a follow-up tweet: "In other news, #Ghostbusters will be hitting theatres July 22, 2016. Save the date!"

And so the news was out: A gender-flipped reboot of the 1984 comedy smash about a goofball squad of paranormal exterminators was officially underway. Feig and Sony Pictures (and especially Saturday Night Live comedian Jones) caught a lot of flak - a whole lot - when the news broke. Ghostbusters are guys, not girls. No one should mess with casting as sacred and sacrosanct as Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Bill Murray, and Harold Ramis. The haters went crazy.

And so now, the moment of truth. The new, all-female Ghostbusters is upon us (a week earlier than the release date Feig first tweeted), and if the reaction from Philly preview audiences - including some fans in home-sewn Ghostbusters coveralls - is any indication, Wiig, McCarthy, McKinnon, and Jones have pulled it off.

Feig, who steered Wiig and McCarthy through the raunchy smash Bridesmaids and then gave McCarthy a $100 million-topping hit with Spy, lets his four female leads do what they do best. The comedy is loose and smart, the ghost slime is free-flowing, talk of a new Ghostbusters franchise suddenly seems real.

And if Wiig, McCarthy, McKinnon, and Jones open this weekend with big box office numbers ($50 million is what the Hollywood trades are suggesting), why stop with Ghostbusters II and III. Shouldn't writer/director Feig round up his leading ladies for a few other remakes/reboots?

Here are 10:

The Wizard of Oz. It's tricky messing with one of the most beloved movies ever, but with McCarthy as the Cowardly Lion, McKinnon as the Scarecrow, and Wiig as the Tin Woodswoman, Kansas farmgirl Dorothy Gale (Willow Smith? The BFG's Ruby Barnhill?) takes her Emerald City journey in the company of the best friends anybody ever had. "And it's funny, but I feel as if I'd known you all the time, but I couldn't have, could I?" she says. In a deft display of thespian versatility, Jones is both the Good Witch Glinda and the Wicked Witch of the West.

The Caine Mutiny. McCarthy is Captain Queeg, the paranoid disciplinarian who loses her marbles (well, actually steel balls) during the big courtroom scene in this remake of the 1955 Academy Award-winning drama based on the Herman Wouk novel. Cast opposite McCarthy (who knew she had that Bogie impression in her?!): McKinnon, Jones, and Wiig in the parts made famous by Ferrer, Johnson, and MacMurray.

The Godfather. With McCarthy as Donna Corleone, the powerful boss of a New York mob clan, McKinnon as her heir apparent, actress Jones as the hot-headed sibling, and Wiig as the consigliere. Who can forget McCarthy's death scene: Out in the garden on a hot summer day, fooling around with her little grandson, she puts an orange peel in her mouth, scares the kid silly, putters around the tomato plants, coughs, and keels over. Genius! Feig defers on this one, letting Sofia Coppola direct.

The Matrix. If the blond in the red dress that Neo eyes on the sidewalk can suddenly morph into a gun-toting G-man type, then certainly no one can take issue with the casting of Wiig in the role made unforgettable by Keanu Reeves. McCarthy is Morpheus, Neo's tour guide. Jones dons the Ray-Bans as Agent Smith. McKinnon gets acrobatic as Trinity, who tells the wigged-out hero, "the answer is out there, Neo, and it's looking for you, and it will find you if you want it to." Heavy.

Point Break. There's a whole Patrick Swayze riff in the new Ghostbusters, with McCarthy and company aptly alluding to the actor's haunting work in Ghost, then saluting Dirty Dancing, and finally going completely off the rails singing the praises of Swayze's awesome bank-robbing surfer dude in Point Break. So never mind the totally lame remake that came and went late last year. The four Swayze aficionados are the only ones who should rightfully redo the action classic. Since Wiig got the Keanu role in The Matrix, McCarthy gets to play Johnny Utah here.

12 Angry Women. A lone holdout works to convince her fellow jurors that the case they're deliberating stinks. No, it's not a murder trial - it's a civil proceeding about why women in Hollywood and everywhere else make so much less money than men. Wiig delivers what is certain to be an Oscar-bound interpretation of Henry Fonda's 1957 role, and Jones gets to show off her dramatic chops as Juror Number 5 - the pivotal part played by Jack Klugman in the original. Other jurors include Patricia Arquette, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Tina Fey, and Amy Schumer - stars of Schumer's unprintably titled movie-biz sexism sketch (find it on YouTube).

The Lord of the Rings. J.R.R. Tolkien's cherished trilogy about a furry-footed homebody who embarks on an epic trek stars McCarthy, CGI-downsized to hobbit height, as the new Frodo, with Jones as the wise sorcerer Gandalf. McKinnon is best pal Sam, and Wiig is Aragorn, the mysterious stranger first encountered at the Inn of the Prancing Pony in Bree. Just don't call her "Longshanks" - she won't take it kindly.

No Country for Old Women. Texas border drama, adapted from the Cormac McCarthy best seller, with Spy star McCarthy (no relation - she checked with Henry Louis Gates Jr. on that Finding Your Roots show) as the sociopathic killer with a goofy hairdo. Jones plays the third-generation Lone Star sheriff, worrying about the violent turn the country has taken, and McKinnon is a Vietnam vet who stumbles onto a briefcase with $2 million inside. Wiig is the bounty hunter. Paths cross, dialogue is exchanged, hotel room doors creak ominously.

Ocean's Eleven. A swaggering gang of pals head for Vegas, trade cool banter, and plot to unburden the casinos of millions. First it was the Rat Pack in 1960, then Clooney, Damon, and Pitt tried their hand in 2001 (followed by two sequels). Why not let Jones, McCarthy, McKinnon, and Wiig take a turn? In a caper that requires nanosecond precision, their timing is impeccable. Kirsten Dunst, Saoirse Ronan, Zoe Saldana, and Sarah Silverman are just a few of the actresses who could help with the heist.

Reservoir Dogs "Here are your names. Ms. White, Ms. Blond, Ms. Pink." "Hey, why am I Ms. Pink?" The Ghostbusters gals remake Quentin Tarantino's blood-soaked, breakthrough 1992 crime pic, about a gang of diamond thieves who may or may not have been set up. Updated but still relevant critical analysis of Madonna songs, plus somebody loses an ear.

srea@phillynews.com

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@Steven_Rea