I’m not exactly sure what happened in the last few weeks to set him off, but Dan Aykroyd is launching an all-out assault on Paul Feig‘s Ghostbusters reboot, which was slimed in theaters last July.
Reading between the lines it’s starting to sound as if Columbia Pictures is putting the kibosh on a sequel, and now Aykroyd is insinuating that the film’s new ‘busters – Kate McKinnon, Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, and Leslie Jones – won’t be returning either.
Yesterday, Aykroyd publicly blamed Feig for Ghostbusters‘ inability to perform at the box office, claiming that the director went $30-40 million over budget. While I don’t think that’s the sole factor in the film’s failures, the reported $140 million budget is ridiculous.
While Aykroyd does preface the bodyslam with admiration for the finished product, he’s now doubling down on the insults via a Facebook post.
So, in addition to blaming Feig for going way over budget, Aykroyd is now pointing fingers at the film’s screenplay and direction. Here, he’s insinuating that Feig is responsible for introducing new Ghostbusters and ignoring the “originators” (i.e. Aykroyd, Bill Murray, and Ernie Hudson). This is absolutely ridiculous being that this is Aykroyd’s franchise for which he is one of the main producers of. He controls rights and direction, which means he would have had to approve the screenplay before the film could go into production. Not only did he vote “yes” for Feig’s all-female direction, but he approved the absolutely moronic decision to have all of the original stars return in cameos that did nothing for the story, yet removed the viewer from the experience.
I quite enjoyed Feig’s Ghostbusters, even if a failure, but can understand frustrations over a ballooning budget. Still, I can’t wrap my head around Aykroyd’s frustration with the decision to reboot the franchise instead of bringing back the “originators”. If anything, he may need to go and take a long look in the mirror before chastizing everyone around him.
But I digress, it’s hugely disappointing to hear Aykroyd ranting about the film’s failures as it’s implying that Columbia Pictures is done with the franchise for good, leaving it covered in red slime. Who knows what factors could arise to save the ‘busters, but as of this writing, it’s not looking good.
Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together – this is mass hysteria.
