WHEN Sony Pictures announced this month plans for another “Ghostbusters” film with male leads, no one was more surprised than Paul Feig, the writer-director of the studio’s reboot of the classic comedy franchise with an all-female cast.

    “It was a surprise,” said Feig. “That threw me, I will say.”

    Feig is about to embark on his re-imagining of the 1984 cult comedy with Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones — all part of NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” family — due for release in 2016.

    But even before production begins, Sony has plowed ahead with plans for a second movie for the following year with Channing Tatum as a lead and Anthony and Joe Russo to direct.

    “It’s a giant franchise and it’s a big world,” Feig told Reuters this weekend at the annual South by Southwest (SXSW) Festival. “I completely understand wanting to create this whole (franchise) just like ‘Star Wars’ has. But for me, all I can concentrate on is my ladies and how much we’re going to kick ass.”

    At the festival showcasing film, technology and music, the director best known for his raunchy female-led 2011 comedy “Bridesmaids,” was promoting his latest comedic effort “Spy,” starring one of his favorites, McCarthy.(SD-Agencies)