An all-female cast has been announced, and suddenly I am excited about Ghostbusters 3

It’s not only a great move for social progress – but it also increases the chances the movie will be good

Ghostbusters 3 has been a unicorn of internet movie fandom for decades. The talents involved in the original movies have been unable to pass a dictaphone without being asked to update the status of it. Have they seen a script? Is Bill Murray coming back? Will they be joined by younger cast members? Is Bill Murray coming back? Who will direct? Is Bill Murray coming back?

We never thought it would actually be made, and really, I don’t think we ever wanted it to be (see also Goonies 2). A classic movie of its time, an inferior sequel had already tampered with its legacy and so it became a game of fandom peek-a-boo. Anticipation was providing an appetite the pay-off wouldn't match.

But studios don't make money from internet gossip - they make money by selling you something you already love. With your childhood TV shows, toys and comics all being made into movies, it was never likely that Sony would let Ghostbusters die with Bill Murray's enthusiasm.

When I first heard there was to be a new Ghostbusters movie, I sighed. You probably did too. Another cash grab. Maybe they will pair Dan Akroyd with Zac Ephron. But yesterday director Paul Feig confirmed reports that the new team you're gonna call will all be women (and funny women at that). It’s not only a great move for social progress – but it also increases the chances the movie will be good.

Quick, what are your top five female ensemble comedies? And the next five? And the five after that? I’m not sure I can fill that quota. Why not? Why are these films not being made?

As an audience member, I am finding it increasingly difficult to see something new and surprising on screen. Even now, parts for women are generally defined by their relationship to their male lead and as a result, anyone willing to construct a movie without one is better equipped to find new material.

When rebooting Battlestar Galactica in 2003, Ron D. Moore took a cigar-smoking, sexually promiscuous, hot-headed pilot and made him a woman. In doing so, he not only escaped a well-worn stereotype, he created something which seemed fresh and interesting. This new Ghostbusters will spare us the worry that the old boys are not as funny as they used to be, and the gender switch will necessitate different character dynamics and new jokes. All of a sudden, I don’t know what a new Ghostbusters movie will be like.

This is a good start from Hollywood. Like the recent moves to employ a woman to shepherd Wonder Woman to the cinema, we are starting to see an acknowledgment from the studios that the audience wants to see more of itself on screen. The upside of this current wave of reboots and adaptations is that film makers like Paul Feig are now able to make choices which would have never even been considered in the past.

No one is taking Ghostbusters away from me.The original movie sits safely on my shelf. Diversity is coming –and thanks to our nostalgic enthusiasm for things like Ghostbusters, it's sneaking in through the front door.