JASON REITMAN has hired “Captain Marvel” actress Mckenna Grace for his new “Ghostbusters” movie, which centers on a family headed by a single mother.

The news came after Variety reported this month that Carrie Coon is in talks to play the mom and Finn Wolfhard is in negotiations to play her son. Reitman has co-written the screenplay with Gil Kenan and will direct. The untitled film will be produced by his father, Ivan Reitman, who directed and produced the original 1984 film. Plot details are currently under wraps for the new film, which will go into production this summer.

The original “Ghostbusters” starred Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Rick Moranis, and Sigourney Weaver. Murray’s character, Peter Venkman, headed a team of parapsychologists who start a ghost-catching business in New York City. That film grossed US$242 million in the United States and over US$295 million worldwide, making it the highest-grossing comedy film of its time.

This installment will not be connected to the 2016 “Ghostbusters” movie, starring Melissa McCarthy. Sony released a first look at the project in January with footage of the Ecto-1 vehicle from the original movie and set a July 10, 2020 release date.

Grace stars as a young Carol Danvers in “Captain Marvel” and also appeared in Netflix’s horror series “The Haunting of Hill House.” She is repped by Paradigm, Management 360, and Hansen Jacobson.

(SD-Agencies)