Melissa McCarthy celebrates the women behind the Ghostbusters re-boot in empowering picture

'When we stand together we are unstoppable!'

Nominees with a birthday in the second half of the year are more likely to have something to celebrate in the Supporting Actress category tonight, judging by recent winners. This makes Dame Judi Dench, nominated for My Week with Marilyn, and Melissa McCar (Getty Images)

Melissa McCarthy has celebrated all of the women who contributed to the Ghostbusters re-boot in a powerful image showcasing the female script writers, hairdressers, actors and assistants who brought the film together.

Having four women in lead roles is still incredibly rare, with only 14 per cent of protagonists in films released last year being female, according to Time.

The Ghostbusters cast has been beset by sexism from the moment the all-female line-up was announced, with fans angered that it did not use four men like in the 1984 original. The reaction was so extreme that director Paul Feig said he came close to abandoning the film after being “inundated with hate”, describing the backlash as “vile, misogynistic s**t”.

And earlier this month, photos of McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones’s surprise visit to a medical centre in Boston attracted negative comments from disgruntled Ghostbusters fans criticising the decision to cast them in the film.

McCarthy shared an image of all of the women who played a role in the film on Tuesday to celebrate Ellen DeGeneres' new collaboration with Gap, which focuses on promoting girl power.

A photo posted by Melissa McCarthy (@melissamccarthy) on Aug 25, 2015 at 7:57am PDT

Alongside the images, she wrote: “Three cheers to @theellenshow from all the remarkable women of #ghostbusters. When we stand together we are unstoppable! #girlpower”.