Paul Feig says in a new interview with the Guardian that much of the vitriol he received online when the female version of the Ghostbusters reboot was released in the summer of 2016 was due to a video posted criticizing the reboot. He said it came from a known Donald Trump supporter. The film starred Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, and Leslie Jones as the paranormal investigators of the same name.
“In 2016, Hillary Clinton was running, and the political climate at that time was really strange,” Feig said. “There were a lot of guys looking for a fight. When something was piling up, I’d go back to Twitter and see who it was. So many people were Trump supporters. Then Trump came out against us. He said, “They’re going to remake Indiana Jones without Harrison Ford.” You can’t do that. And now they’re making Ghostbusters with all women. what happened? ‘And I was completely upset. ”
“We all became cannibals,” Feig continued. “They’ve turned the movie into a political statement. It’s like, ‘If you’re a supporter of women, you should go see this.’ And if you’re not…” I don’t think there’s anything wrong with having a female protagonist. However, people brought a lot of luggage.
The Ghostbusters reboot has become a prime example of the overarching tentpole targeted by toxic fandom in Hollywood. Earlier this year, original Ghostbusters star Ernie Hudson told The Independent that he was somewhat disappointed in the all-female reboot because it was “not what the fans were expecting.” He said he did.
“Look, I’m a Paul Feig fan, so I can’t say anything negative about him,” he said. “Other than that, I don’t really understand why they’re rebooting it, you know what I mean?” Make another movie. ”
But Hudson’s Ghostbusters co-star Dan Aykroyd has long defended the reboot. The comedian told People magazine in July that he “loved” the film, “which Feige did with some amazing women,” adding, “I thought the villain at the end was great.” I really liked it. And of course, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones, Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, you’ll never get better than that. So I’m very proud to have licensed, been involved with, and been a part of that movie, and I want to go on record to say that I fully support it and am in no way disparaging it. I’ll keep it. . I think it’s truly one of the greatest pieces of work ever made. ”
The Ghostbusters series returned to theaters earlier this year with the release of Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, starring original actors Hudson, Aykroyd and Bill Murray. Although the next live-action movie has not yet been announced, the Ghostbusters series will next be adapted into an animated series on Netflix.
