2016’s Ghostbusters definitely didn’t make the impact that Sony was hoping for. They no doubt figured they were onto a winner by revitalizing a beloved franchise and enlisting an all-female cast when such a thing was becoming more common. Unfortunately though, this decision was lambasted by a fair amount of people on social media and the film, when it ultimately hit theaters, earned mediocre reviews and underperformed at the box office.
Despite this, director Paul Feig has always been hopeful that a sequel would materialize, saying as recently as April that he’d love to return to the franchise. However, it doesn’t look like he’ll get his wish anymore, as Sony announced last week that Jason Reitman will be taking a stab at the property next, with the filmmaker at the helm of Ghostbusters 3 now, which will continue on from the continuity of the original two movies and totally disregard Feig’s effort in the process.
Understandably, the internet’s a bit torn on how they feel about this, and one person who’s definitely not on board with the idea is Leslie Jones, who starred in the 2016 reboot. Taking to Twitter, she blasted the project over the weekend, writing:
So insulting. Like fuck us. We dint count. It’s like something trump would do. (Trump voice)”Gonna redo ghostbusteeeeers, better with men, will be huge. Those women ain’t ghostbusteeeeers” ugh so annoying. Such a dick move. And I don’t give fuck I’m saying something!!
Understandably, that caused yet another mini-storm on the web and with numerous people now lashing out against Leslie for what she said, Feig has offered up some support for the actress, hopping on Twitter to say the following:
An absolute honest to God never ending supply of bullshit and hate from these trolls. Leslie spoke her truth and I support her. I am very open to Jason’s new version of GB but am also sad that our 2016 team may not get to bust again. We all are. We’re forever proud of our movie.
Feig’s certainly entitled to his own opinion, as is Jones, but we’d hate to see Ghostbusters 3 get caught up in the same cloud of toxicity that the reboot did. In the lead-up to release, the vitriol surrounding the 2016 effort was as fierce as they come, with many calling for a boycott of the pic due to its female-centric premise. It created a toxic, reprehensible shadow of hate over the film, from which it could never truly escape.
Hopefully, Ghostbusters 3 won’t suffer the same fate, but if it’s already proving to be this controversial so early into its lifecycle, we can only imagine how people will react once they actually learn a little bit more about it and what Reitman and the team have in store with this next chapter in the franchise.