You may not have realized it given how much he’s been talking about this upcoming, female-led "Ghostbusters," but Paul Feig actually has a new movie coming out this year, the genre spoof "Spy" starring Melissa McCarthy (read our review). Even at SXSW, where his comedy premiered, the talk still swirled around "Ghostbusters," and Feig shared a couple more details and his take on the reaction his project has received.
First off, it’s hard to imagine a "Ghostbusters" movie without Ray Parker Jr.‘s iconic theme song, but Feig tells E! that though he’s "playing with" the idea of including it, he admits he’s of two minds about the matter. "It’s such an iconic thing that part of you goes, ‘I don’t want to change it,’ but then another part of you wants to update it," he explained. "It’s one of the biggest questions we’re faced with."
While Feig feels free to toy with the franchise and update for a contemporary age, there are many narrow-minded folks who can’t wrap their minds around a movie in which the Ghostbusters are — gasp! — women. And the trolling has infuriated the director. “The first wave when you make an announcement like that is overwhelmingly positive. Everyone’s so happy and you’re like, ‘This is great.’ Then comes the second wave and you’re like, Oh my God. Some of the most vile, misogynistic s— I’ve ever seen in my life,” he told Variety.
“The biggest thing I’ve heard for the last four months is, ‘Thanks for ruining my childhood.’ It’s going to be on my tombstone when I die,” he continued. “It’s so dramatic. Honestly, the only way I could ruin your childhood is if I got into a time machine and went back and made you an orphan.”
Seriously, if you’re clinging to "Ghostbusters" that tightly, perhaps a reality check might be in order — it’s just a movie, or really, just a piece of branded entertainment that a major studio is looking to sell a few different ways (including an all-bro reboot, which Feig said he knows little about).
So chill, and if you’re nice, maybe Feig will include the original theme after all.
Extreme Ghostbusters had a female Ghostbuster, one of the video games, the comics and all the GB3 scripts prior to Feig. It\’s only an all-female Ghostbusters movie that has drawn the ire of fans. Much like the idea of an all-male team again has raised the ire of fans who were loving what Feig was planning. I get why people are so passionate about the gender of the casts, but there are always going to be male and female Ghostbusters. Shift the focus back to the actual franchise, where it belongs FFS.
I dont want the original theme or logo anywhere near this garbage
Most of fans\’ criticism (including myself) does not have to do with the fact that he chose to go for an all-female cast, but that they feel Feig does it, \’just because he can\’, as if it\’s more of a feminist gimmick than a conscious choice to serve a storyline. More important – read \’annoying\’ – even to us is the notion that he seems to completely disregard the existing Ghostbusters universe rather than go for the more difficult option: being creative (and, sure, fine, putting more leading women in it than in the first two, original movies) while staying true to the existing universe and building on that. The idea of the reboot is what worries most fans, really. It\’s misconception that they hate the notion of women as ghostbusters; the existing universe (incl. the Real Ghostbusters, Extreme Ghostbusters, and the recent (and popular) IDW comics) has them too, and these characters (i.e. Janine Melnitz, Kylie Griffin, Melanie Ortiz, etc.) are appreciated by the majority of fans.
So, Paul Feig, director of a movie that was a massive critical and commercial success, as well as the creator of one of the most beloved TV shows of all time, is "a lazy, hack director who puts makes awful movies." And what, exactly, is Ivan Reitman?
The original Ghostbusters was a hit because of the talent on-screen. This new version has an amazing cast. Paul Feig is as good a director, if not better, than Ivan Reitman. Maybe the men whining about the new movie would be happier if the director were, say, Tom Shadyac, who is about on par with Reitman.
@Celluloidfan35 – Somewhat disagree. I haven\’t been much of a fan of his earlier work, but there\’s a difference between criticizing him as a director (which I think is warranted) and criticizing the concept of women as Ghostbusters, which is what the basic argument from the douchebags seems to be. I\’m on your side in that I think his movies are pretty unwatchable, but I\’m not sure that his comedy chops are what most of these angry people are reacting to.
Such arrogance coming from him. He should have known that his announcement would cause this kind of response but apparently oblivious to it all.
The anger is coming from the fact that it\’s being done by a lazy, hack director who puts makes awful movies and no one seems to call him on it because he puts women in the leads and can claim that you are a sexist if you like them.
Deadline retracted the bit about the other one being "all-bro." It could very well also have female Ghostbusters (which I hope it does — anything to light impotent moron fanboys\’ hair on fire).