Summary
Ghostbustersstar Dan Aykroyd no longer resents the female-ledGhostbusters. The 2016 reboot starred Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, and Leslie Jones as the four ghostbusting leads, while Chris Hemsworth joined them as an assistant. The controversialGhostbustersmovieearned $229.1 million at the box office, a weak showing compared to the $144 million budget. Aykroyd admitted that he enjoyed the movie, but believed the cost was too immense.
Eight years afterGhostbusters' release, Aykroyd has changed his mind and believes any issues were his own doing. In an interview withPeople, Aykroyd revealed thatthe high budget was his responsibilityas a producer, and he should have stepped in to help maintain the budget. He is now “proud” to have taken part and is “fully supportive” of the attempted reboot. Check out his full quote below:
I liked the movie [director] Paul Feig made with those spectacular women. I was mad at them at the time because I was supposed to be a producer on there andI didn’t do my joband I didn’t argue about costs. And it cost perhaps more than it should, and they all do. All these movies do. I thought that the villain at the end was great.I loved so much of it.And of course, Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones and Melissa McCarthy and Kristen Wiig, you’re never going to do better than that. So I go on the record as saying I’m so proud to have been able to license that movie and have a hand and have a part in it, and I’m fully supportive of it, and I don’t besmirch it at all. I think it works really great amongst all the ones that have been made.
Did The 2016 Ghostbusters Fail Because Of The Budget?
Sexism Played A Role In The Disappointing Box Office
The high budget was a massive problem for thereboot, as its $144 million budget made profitability a challenge.It would have needed approximately $350 millionto reach a solid profit after the theaters took their cut, and nothing inGhostbusters' franchise historyhas come close to that immense total. The original was the closest with its $297 million total. Later movies have achieved profit by lowering the budget, asGhostbusters: Afterlifedid when it managed a $75 million budget with a $204 million take. WhileAfterlifeearned less than the 2016Ghostbusters,the lower budget made it profitable.
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There was also an extreme sexist backlash to the film that left cast members in tears and reportedly receiving death threats.The movie suffered severe review-bombingbefore its release, leaving it with a 74% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes and a dismal 49% audience score. It marks the lowest audience score in franchise history, despite having a relatively high Tomatometer. Check out the chart below, which compares the scores for every majorGhostbustersmovie:
95%
88%
55%
61%
74%
49%
63%
94%
42%
83%
With so much backlash, it was difficult forGhostbustersto ever gain much box office momentum. Its $46 million opening weekend was worrying for a movie with such a large budget, and the 64% drop in its sophomore weekend meant that it would never recover. An unreasonably high cost and extreme sexist backlash to an all-women cast meant that success was never much of a possibility. Even without the review-bombing, Aykroyd is right thatGhostbustershad too high of a budget to ever achieve a profit.
Ghostbusters: Answer the Call
Cast
The third entry into the Ghostbusters franchise, Ghostbusters: Answer the Call, serves as a reboot in which four eccentric women discover the key to containing paranormal entities using science. Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, and Leslie Jones form a new all-female version of the iconic team, aided by their incompetent assistant Kevin (Chris Hemsworth). When an occultist threatens to unleash an army of ghosts on New York, the Ghostbusters must step up to save the city.
