Even though it has been nearly a year since the release of Ghostbusters: Answer the Call in theaters the movie is still generating headlines. Appearing on the UK Sunday morning TV show Sunday Brunch co-creator and star of the original two Ghostbusters movies Dan Aykroyd, quite openly claimed that the reboot's director Paul Feig ignored the advice of the original cast and crew regards scenes that would later cost studio Sony Pictures, according to Aykroyd, up to $40 million in reshoots. The actor who co-wrote the first two movies with the late Harold Ramis and starred as the bubbly and over-eager Ghostbuster Ray Stantz then voiced his opinion that he believed Feig will not be welcome anytime soon at Sony Pictures. Here's a Transcript of what Aykroyd said.
“The girls are great in it. Kate McKinnon, Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig – what a wonderful, wonderful players they are – and Leslie Jones. I was really happy with the movie, but it cost too much. And Sony does not like to lose money. It made a lot of money around the world but just cost too much, making it economically not feasible to do another one. So that’s too bad – the director, he spent too much on it. He didn’t shoot scenes we suggested to him and several scenes that were going to be needed and he said: “Nah, we don’t need them”. Then we tested the movie and they needed them and he had to go back. About $30 to $40 million in reshoots. So he will not be back on the Sony lot anytime soon.”
The full interview can be watched HERE.
Aykroyd's statements were reportedly edited when the show was re-broadcast on the digital UK Tv station Channel 4 + 1, suggesting that someone, likely from Sony Pictures was unhappy with Aykroyd's candidly open and honest comments. Sony's reaction to Aykroyd's remarks is unsurprising considering the rumors that the stars of the original movies were coerced to promote the reboot under threat of legal action imposed upon them from aggressive NDA's. If such contracts existed, Aykroyd's blunt comments would suggest they are no longer in effect. The actors passionate comments really come as no surprise considering the years of work he and Ramis put into developing a script for Ghostbusters 3 which was planned to begin production in early 2015, that was until August 2014 when Amy Pascal, then head of Sony Pictures Entertainment, greenlit Feig's plan's for a female-led reboot despite the director having no script or cast - Pascal was sacked six months later amidst claims of mismanagement, sexism, and racism.
Sony Pictures, now headed by former Fox chairman Tom Rothman, could do well to learn from the backlash the reboot received and the polarizing opinions of the fans over recent box office disappointments such as Terminator Genisys, Batman v Superman, and Alien: Covenant and listen to what the fan base is saying. Though we seriously doubt they will listen the Ghostbusters fans want, if not deserve Ghostbusters 3.
