We can officially welcome back Winston Zeddemore to the Ghostbusters franchise. Variety is reporting that actor Ernie Hudson, who played the fourth Ghostbuster in the paranormal comedy film, will be joining Sony’s all-female reboot, directed by Paul Feig. Sony has not confirmed if Hudson will reprise his role as Winston Zeddemore, but it seems like a no-brainer — however, this is Hollywood.
The character of Zeddemore, who becomes the glue that holds the team together during Ghostbusting insanity, was originally written for Eddie Murphy. But the comedian was filming Beverly Hills Cop at that time, so it went to Hudson — a Yale School of Drama grad who until that point had mostly appeared in guest-starring roles on popular TV shows like The A-Team, Fantasy Island, Webster, Taxi, and The Dukes of Hazzard.
It remains to be seen if Feig can convince the reclusive and mostly retired Rick Moranis to join the film, but one can always dream. Ghostbusters arrives on July 22, 2016.