Ghostbusters: Answer the Call is the rebranded name for the female-led reboot that hit theaters this summer, and lived up to its poor marketing campaign with a movie that not only failed to meet its necessary targets at the box office but also failed to revitalize the aging intellectual property in the eyes of critics and fans, all amidst cries of sexism and racism by both the movies defenders and its critics. Some have claimed that while the movie may have bombed it has opened an avenue for young women and girls to enjoy such movies, yet this ignores the fact that over 45% of fans of the original movies, cartoons, and comic books were female, both young and old. If there was one property that needed an influx of female fandom it was never Ghostbusters.
Yet it seems that struggling studio Sony Pictures Entertainment is at odds with the cast and crew of Ghostbusters: Answer the Call as to the future of the franchise if in fact the franchise even has a future. Atop of the comments from Rory Bruer, Sony's president of worldwide distribution claiming that there was no doubt in his mind that a sequel will happen, and with the director of the original movies Ivan Reitman recently stated to Slashfilm that there are many other Ghostbuster films in development, it would seem as though Sony and Reitman are eager to forge onward with the property. Yet reboot director and co-writer Paul Feig has announced that a sequel will not happen due to the movie's poor box office and critical performance.
Ghostbusters fans and long term followers of Ghostbusters news will remember that before Paul Feig was attached to direct his divisive reboot the original plan was to bring the long-awaited Ghostbusters 3 to the big screen, based on a script developed by original writers and cast members Dan Aykroyd and the late Harold Ramis, with contributions from comedy writers Gene Stupnitsky, Lee Eisenberg and Etan Cohen. A plan that was altered at the eleventh hour by Feig and former head of Sony Pictures Amy Pascal (before she was sacked amidst claims of racism, sexism, and mismanagement) in favor of the ill-fated reboot. Hopefully, for true Ghostbusters fans, those plans for the third movie in which the proton packs were to be passed on from the old generation to a new one are back on track with renewed vigor now that the brand is more recognizable if somewhat tainted. With that said as a fan, we've heard all of this before during the ten plus years in which Aykroyd kept pushing for Ghostbusters 3.
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