We’re just a couple of weeks away from strange things happening in your neighbourhood with Paul Feig’s reboot of Ghostbusters hitting cinema screens, and it’s not been without its controversy.
There have been several rumours of problems between Sony and the director (with suggestions the studio want to sweep the movie under the rug), and even reports that the cast hated the film while working on it. However the biggest stories have been the en-mass outcry that the ‘hate’ for the movie is nothing more than sexism and misogyny. Feig’s friend Judd Apatow recently compared the Ghostbusters hate to the support for Donald Trump as American president.
But the movie’s producer – and the original movie’s director – Ivan Reitman thinks otherwise.
“I think there’s way too much talk about gender” he tells Mashable. “I think that many of the people who were complaining were actually lovers of the [original] movie, not haters of women.”
He adds: “I think the lovers of the [original] movie felt there was some kind of sacrilege to re-do it, because it was a seminal part of their moviegoing experience as a 7- or 8-year-old. That’s something that can’t be minimized, and I totally respect that love.”
Reitman was of course set to direct Ghostbusters III before Sony decided to move ahead with Feig’s reboot, and there have also been stories that Reitman was locked out of meetings about the movie, and even uninvited to celebration dinners.
What do you make of Reitman’s comments?
Thirty years after the original film took the world by storm, Ghostbusters is back and fully rebooted for a new generation. Director Paul Feig combines all the paranormal fighting elements that made the original franchise so beloved with a cast of new characters, played by the funniest actors working today. Get ready to watch them save the world this summer!
Ghostbusters is set for release on July 11th in the UK and on July 15th in the US and sees Paul Feig (Spy) directing a cast that also includes Kristin Wiig (Bridesmaids), Melissa McCarthy (Spy), Leslie Jones (Saturday Night Live), Kate McKinnon (Saturday Night Live), Chris Hemsworth (Avengers: Age of Ultron), Andy Garcia (The Godfather: Part III), Michael K. Williams (Boardwalk Empire), Matt Walsh (Veep), Cecily Strong (Saturday Night Live), Neil Casey (Saturday Night Live) and Charles Dance (Game of Thrones). Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Sigourney Weaver and Annie Potts are also all confirmed to cameo.
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Originally published July 1, 2016. Updated April 15, 2018.
