Ghostbusters Director Slams Critics of 2016 Reboot

Originally posted on Men's Journal | By Griff Griffin | Last updated Oct 1, 2024 4:30 PM ET

The director of 2016’s Ghostbusters has hit back at critics.

Paul Feig, who directed the reboot of the much-loved ‘80s action-comedy, reflected on the intense backlash to the film’s release in a recent interview.

"The political climate of the time was really weird, with Hillary Clinton running for office in 2016," Feig told The Guardian. "There were a lot of dudes looking for a fight. When I was getting piled on, on Twitter, I’d go back and see who they were. So many were Trump supporters. Then Trump came out against us. He was like: 'They’re remaking Indiana Jones without Harrison Ford. You can’t do that. And now they’re making Ghostbusters with only women. What’s going on?' and got all upset.”

Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures Releasing

Feig said the movie became more of a political statement, morphing beyond all recognition in the eyes of people. “Everybody went [frick]ing cannibal. It turned the movie into a political statement, as if to say: ‘If you’re pro-women, you’re going to go see this. If you’re not, then …’”

Another issue critics had was with the lack of continuity. 2016’s reboot wasn’t a direct sequel to the exploits of Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, and Winston Zeddemore, and Egon Spengler. Although, to be fair, Spengler’s actor Harold Ramais had sadly passed away by this point.

To that, Feig says, "Bill [Murray] had publicly said he didn’t want to do another Ghostbusters at that point. Harold Ramis had died. Dan and Ernie were there, but half the team felt weird. It had been 30 years and Bill and the gang were so iconic; I didn’t want to do anything that hurt the original movies."

Despite a respectable 74% on Rotten Tomatoes, Ghostbusters 2016 was a box office bomb. According to reports, it grossed $229 million worldwide against a $144 million production budget, which contributed to losses of over $70 million. The more recent follow-up performed better, with Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire grossing $204 million worldwide against a reported $75 million budget.

This article first appeared on Men's Journal and was syndicated with permission.

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