One of the major reasons why so many stars of yesteryear return to the franchises that helped make them household names in the first pace is often the simplest one; money. Ernie Hudson didn’t get a great deal to do in Ghostbusters: Afterlife, but he damn sure got paid for it, and his approach to the sequel seems to be much the same.
In an interview with ScreenRant, the veteran Winston Zeddemore made a point of noting that he isn’t the biggest fan of the creative shift being made by director Jason Reitman – a legacy player himself seeing as his late father Ivan directed the first two – but he’s happy to go along with it for reasons that presumably speak for themselves.
“As we introduce new stories, and new characters, that’s what moves the whole thing forward, but we’re still a part of it, so it was great to see Bill Murray, and Danny Aykroyd, Annie Potts, it’s great to see them there, and really just enjoying it and enthusiastic about being there. It’s different, it’s not necessarily the direction I would go in, but I just love being part of it, and I think the fans will like this new direction, but we’ll see.”
Of course, Hudson has never been shy in railing against Ghostbusters when it tickles his fancy, but it’s telling that he also referenced Winston’s return by questioning that even though he has a place in the property’s current complexion, “how much of a place and all of that, that gets decided on by other people.”
He’ll be back for more, even if he isn’t fully in agreement with how it plays out, so let’s hope he’s getting some decent royalties out of the bargain.