If there was ever any question whether Paul Feig would return for a follow up to his 2016 flopbuster Ghostbusters: Answer the Call, then that has now been laid to rest after video emerged online of original star and writer Dan Aykroyd lambasting the Bridesmaids director.
Aykroyd, who wrote the original movie alongside Harold Ramis and Rick Moranis, claims that Fieg spent way too much money on the project, making it almost impossible for it to recoup any of its outgoings. Speaking to Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch team, the former Ray Stantz stated a sequel would be “economically unfeasible.”
He went on:
“The director, he spent too much on it and he didn’t shoot scenes we suggested to him. Several scenes that were going to be needed, he said, ‘No we don’t need them.’ And then we tested the movie and they needed them, and he had to go back — about $30 to $40 million in re shoots.”
Aykroyd had nothing but nice things to say about the all-female cast, which is in stark contrast to the opinions of many cinema goers, who hated the film before it even went into production. The backlash from fans was so bad in fact, that star Leslie Jones quit Twitter after she was unfairly singled out by so-called fans as the reason the film was so terrible.
Repeats of the show have apparently been edited to remove Aykroyd’s comments, as producers found them to be too acerbic. It’s not hard to empathize with the man though. Aykroyd had visions of a Marvel Universe-style world for Ghostbusters, but because of one man who allegedly, in his eyes, didn’t follow his advice, the franchise may indeed be dead.
Aykroyd ended the interview by stating Feig “Would not be welcomed back at a Sony lot anytime soon.”
Don't hold back, Dan. #Ghostbusters pic.twitter.com/WtZ0MbRsmk
— Ross Maclean (@ross_maclean) June 4, 2017
