Many are excited for the onscreen continuation of the original Ghostbusters movies. Jason Reitman is picking up where his father left off, catching back up with the characters in the present day. This new film in the franchise, however, is going to completely ignore Paul Feig’s attempt at a reboot in 2016.
This has left some scratching their heads as to why. Most notably, Leslie Jones took to social media to express her frustration. And while that movie does have its share of fans, it’s widely be considered a flop that didn’t really connect with the core audience.
Now, Dan Aykroyd, the co-creator of the franchise and one of its stars, has admitted that there was friction while the reboot was filming. However, he claims all the issues are now “in the past,” saying:
Great film. Really good film. Those girls were superb. But I should have been there as a producer watching costs a little more. Paul Feig and I, and Ivan, we had our little conflicts over things we didn’t think would work, why shoot it, why spend the money? But you know, he’s a director. We’ve got to have faith. So, there was a little conflict there, and I’ve spoken about it before, but all that’s in the past. I love it, I think they’re all great in it. Really, he treated the movie with a tribute kind of legacy, respect, and there were some great new spirits in there. And the girls were great.
This more or less confirms what was assumed about the movie’s failure. It boasted a bloated price tag that was ultimately too high for it to pull in any significant profit at the box office. It also rode a wave of unfortunate and biased buzz that essentially doomed its chances to perform well, though most seem to agree that it still has several worthwhile elements.
Regardless, with the 2016 version now in the rearview, Aykroyd and company can turn their attention to the future and focus on the upcoming Ghostbusters threequel. Fingers crossed that this iteration lives up to the hype and is more of a hit so that Sony doesn’t shelve the property again.