Ghostbusters: all-female reboot director would make sequel ‘if anybody ever wanted it’

Paul Feig’s 2016 film was targeted by trolls and disgruntled fans from its inception

Adam White
Friday 18 October 2019 09:38 BST
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Ghostbusters 3 (2020) - Teaser Trailer

Paul Feig, director of the 2016 all-female Ghostbusters reboot, has said that he would love to make a sequel “if anybody ever wanted it”.

Feig’s film starred Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones as a version of the original Ghostbusters, and quickly became a lightning rod for controversy, sexism and trolling.

Speaking to The Guardian, Feig said that, despite the backlash to the film, he would return to the universe if he were asked.

“I would actually make another Ghostbusters if anybody ever wanted it, because I loved that world,” he explained. “I was like a kid in a candy store.”

Feig’s Ghostbusters was targeted by disgruntled fans and alt-right trolls from its inception, with its first trailer becoming the most disliked film trailer in YouTube history. The film was also accused of racial stereotyping.

Jones, the only woman of colour in the cast, additionally became a specific target of trolling, with her private information and personal photographs hacked and published online, along with being bombarded with racist memes on Twitter.

There has been a noticeable lack of controversy about another forthcoming Ghostbusters reboot. Directed by Jason Reitman and set for release next year, it replaces the film’s original cast with a group of children. The film’s original surviving stars, all of whom cameoed in Feig’s Ghostbusters, will also cameo in Reitman’s film.

“What is weird is when you come into something that brings a set of rules that are unbreakable because, as a storyteller, you’re like 'Why can’t I break that? Can’t I have fun with that?'” Feig said.

“We’ll find out when Jason’s movie comes out,” he added. “If that goes through the roof, I’ll go: ‘Sure, I guess I made a mistake doing a reboot.’

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“But I will never apologise for it because I’m very proud of the movie.”

Ghostbusters 2020 stars Finn Wolfhard, McKenna Grace, Paul Rudd and Carrie Coon and will be released 10 July, 2020.

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