Regardless of your personal opinion on whether Ghostbusters should have been rebooted in 2016, considering the popularity of the franchise and the theatrical climate in the mid-2010s when billion dollar earners were more common than ever, it was a bit of a surprise that the film failed to really take off. We’ve heard multiple people speak out about why this may have happened, and now director Paul Feig is once again sharing his thoughts on the matter.
Speaking with The Guardian, Feig spoke about Ghostbusters 2016’s struggles, adding: “The political climate of the time was really weird, with Hillary Clinton running for office in 2016. There were a lot of dudes looking for a fight. When I was getting piled on, on Twitter, I’d go back and see who they were. So many were Trump supporters. Then Trump came out against us. He was like: “They’re remaking Indiana Jones without Harrison Ford. You can’t do that. And now they’re making Ghostbusters with only women. What’s going on?” and got all upset. Everybody went fucking cannibal. It turned the movie into a political statement, as if to say: “If you’re pro-women, you’re going to go see this. If you’re not, then …” I didn’t think it mattered at all that the main characters were women, but people brought a lot of baggage.”
While there are no doubt elements that hold true here, the movie did have its vices and, in the same manner as this year’s Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, didn’t quite capture the Ghostbusters magic that we came to appreciate from the original films and even 2021’s Afterlife.
What are your thoughts on 2016’s Ghostbusters?