Moviefone Editorial

Tag: ghostbusters-reboot

  • Leslie Jones Slams Jason Reitman’s ‘Insulting’ ‘Ghostbusters’ Sequel

    Leslie Jones Slams Jason Reitman’s ‘Insulting’ ‘Ghostbusters’ Sequel

    Sony

    While many “Ghostbusters” fans have been celebrating the news of an upcoming third film in the original series, one star of the recent reboot isn’t happy.

    Leslie Jones took to Twitter over the weekend to voice her disapproval of Jason Reitman‘s sequel, which will be a direct follow-up to his father Ivan Reitman’s 1984 and 1989 flicks. The Sony film will be entirely separate from Jones’s 2016 feature, and will not reference any of its characters or events.

    According to Jones, the move is dismissive and “so insulting,” essentially saying “f*ck us” to herself and the rest of the cast, including Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, and Kate McKinnon. The actress also referenced the hate her film received because of its all-female ensemble, noting sarcastically that this new movie would be “better with men” because, after all, “those women ain’t [Ghostbusters].”

    While Jones’s comments are a bit over-the-top, she’s not entirely wrong that Sony’s decision is kind of “a d*ck move.” After all, critics and fans generally enjoyed the 2016 film, which received mostly positive reviews despite some intense backlash from trolls who declared it a childhood-ruining abomination (and took much of their frustration out on Jones, who received such incessant racist abuse that she briefly quit Twitter). 

    But director Paul Feig‘s flick didn’t do big numbers at the box office, and Sony declined to move forward on a sequel as a result. The studio was eager to keep the “Ghostbusters” name alive, though, and continued to work on other projects centered around the property, ultimately leading Reitman to develop his new film.

    It’s unclear what the director’s feature will focus on, though the film’s first teaser suggests it will be a passing of the torch to a new generation of paranormal investigators. No word yet on whether or not original stars Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, or Ernie Hudson will appear. (Harold Ramis passed away in 2014.)

    We’re guessing at this point, Jones won’t be willing to make a cameo. Here’s hoping Sony reaches out to the 2016 cast anyway, though, as a gesture of goodwill.

  • Box Office: ‘Ghostbusters’ Trails ‘Secret Life of Pets’ With $46.5M Weekend

    ghostbusters box officeBy Dave McNary

    LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – The rebooted “Ghostbusters” is launching with a respectable $46.5 million opening weekend at 3,963 locations, trailing “The Secret Life of Pets” for the top spot at the U.S. box office, Saturday estimates showed.

    Illumination-Universal’s hit “The Secret Life of Pets” should win the weekend with $50 million at 4,381 sites, declining only 52% from its opening. The animated comedy’s 10-day total will hit $202 million by the end of Sunday.

    Sony-Village Roadshow’s “Ghostbusters,” starring Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones, is on its way to posting the best debut weekend for a live-action comedy since “Pitch Perfect 2” opened with $69 million last year. Sony’s recent estimates had been in the $38 million to $40 million range while rivals had forecasted correctly that it would take in between $45 million and $50 million.

    “Ghostbusters” topped “Pets” on its opening day on Friday with $17.2 million, while “Pets” took in $15 million on its eighth day. “Pets” should more than make up the difference on Saturday and Sunday.

    “Ghostbusters” received a decent B+ Cinemascore from its audience with under 25 moviegoers giving the film an A-. Sony noted that it represented the biggest live-action opening since Fox’s “X-Men: Apocalypse” two months ago and the second-highest live-action non-superhero film of the year behind Disney’s “The Jungle Book.”

    “Ghostbusters” also has to overcome the perception — particularly among male fans — that it would not measure up to the 1984 original. That film, starring Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, Harold Ramis and Ernie Hudson, was a smash hit with a massive $229 million domestic total.

    First tracking last month had shown that the opening weekend for the new “Ghostbusters” could be well under $40 million but a massive marketing campaign and solid reviews gave it some needed momentum. The film has a current 73% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

    It’s also facing a tricky road to being profitable, given its hefty $144 million price tag. “Ghostbusters” will need to maintain solid performance in the coming weeks to be profitable — and generate significant grosses overseas. “Ghostbusters” opens internationally in the English language territories of the U.K. and Australia as well as Brazil and a handful of other smaller markets.

    As with the original, the movie is set in Manhattan being beset by an invasion of ghosts. Ivan Reitman, who directed the original film, produced with Amy Pascal.

  • Melissa McCarthy Wants to Make a Bunch of ‘Ghostbusters’ Sequels

    "Ghostbusters" Red Carpet And Guinness World Record event, Marina Bay Sands, SingaporeThe “Ghostbusters” reboot starring a fabulous female foursome hasn’t even hit theaters yet, but two of its leading ladies say they definitely want to make a sequel — and the sky’s the limit on just how many follow-ups there are.

    That’s the word from Melissa McCarthy and Leslie Jones, who recently spoke with The Hollywood Reporter about the flick. McCarthy, who plays paranormal researcher Abby Yates in the movie, gushed about her fellow costars — Jones, Kristen Wiig, and Kate McKinnon — and said that she was down for a surprising number of sequels.

    “I would do 102 more of these,” McCarthy told THR. “I will literally show up for [director] Paul Feig and these women no matter what. I’ll show up for plays in a backyard.”

    Jones, who plays MTA worker-turned-Ghostbuster Patty Tolan, was equally effusive, telling THR, ” … [A]s many as they do, I’m there.”

    Right now, there’s no specific plan for a sequel, as Feig explained in his own interview with the trade, though he said he was open to the idea (“It’s such a fun world, the sky is the limit,” he told THR). We’ll keep our fingers crossed that fans will get to see more bustin’ in the future.

    “Ghostbusters” is due in theaters on July 15. Stay tuned for release dates for the next 102 flicks.

    [via: The Hollywood Reporter]

    Photo credit: ​Getty Images for Sony

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  • Even Melissa McCarthy Thought the ‘Ghostbusters’ Trailer Was ‘Very Confusing’

    GhostbustersThe “Ghostbusters” reboot trailer confused a lot of people — including one of its stars, Melissa McCarthy.

    The trailer (which is also the most disliked trailer in YouTube history) made fans wonder if the movie was a reboot or a sequel, since the video begins with the phrase “30 years ago.” In a radio interview, McCarthy cleared up that opening sequence.

    “It’s a reboot. I know, it’s weird that they said the ’30 years ago’ because in this movie, the first one didn’t happen. It’s that great story, but told totally differently,” the actress explained.

    So, not a sequel, folks! The new “Ghostbusters” — which also stars Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, and Leslie Jones — does not exist in the same universe as the 1984 original.

    McCarthy tried to point out the ambiguity of that opening, but The Powers That Be shut her down.

    “Believe me, the question was asked,” she said. “I was like, ‘I think that’s very confusing,’ but then everyone said, ‘We don’t care what you think.’”Ghostbusters (2016) - Trailer No. 1

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  • Leslie Jones ‘Ghostbusters’ Role Originally Written for Melissa McCarthy

    After the awesome new trailer for Paul Feig’s “Ghostbusters” reboot dropped last week, there was a lot of backlash surrounding Leslie Jones’s character, MTA worker Patty Tolan. While some fans lashed out at the fact that Jones, the film’s only black cast member in one of the four main roles, was playing a subway employee while three white women were playing scientists, Jones and Feig have vehemently defended the part. And it turns out that originally, a white actress was supposed to play it.

    That’s the word from Feig himself, who spoke to Empire magazine this week in an interview breaking down all the major moments from the trailer, including the introduction of Patty. As Feig tells it, when he and co-writer Katie Dippold were penning the script, they had initially pegged Jones’s costar, Melissa McCarthy, for the flamboyant part of Patty.

    “… [W]e had written the role with Melissa in mind, but then I thought I’ve seen Melissa play a brash, larger than life character,” Feig told the magazine. “She’s done it in my movies before!”

    Feig is, of course, talking about his many previous collaborations with McCarthy, including her starmaking turn in Feig’s directorial debut, “Bridesmaids,” which nabbed the actress an Oscar nomination and international adoration. After Feig and Dippold reconsidered the casting, the director told Empire that he then thought of Jones, the “Saturday Night Live” cast member who’s been wowing audiences with her take-no-prisoners performance on the sketch show since 2014.

    “She’s one of my favourite people on the planet,” Feig gushed about the comedian. “I don’t normally like comedy that’s big and loud, but she is able to pull that off in a way that feels real and it’s her. And when I make a movie, I want to find the funniest people I know and once I know what’s the funniest thing about them I want that to be the thing that I put on screen and let shine. This is the role that Leslie can shine comedically in. If you’ve ever seen her do stand-up, it’s just who she is. I wanted to unleash Leslie on the public in the same way we unleashed Melissa on the public in ‘Bridesmaids,’ with a very showy role.”

    Here’s hoping “Ghostbusters” can do for Jones what it did for McCarthy — and, as Feig said on Twitter, that the haters can “Grow up and leave [his] cast alone.”

    [via: Empire]

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  • Check Out the Awesome New ‘Ghostbusters’ LEGO Set

    ghostbusters, lego, new ghostbusters, ghostbusters lego, legosFans got a good look at the cast of the upcoming “Ghostbusters” reboot via some new photos released earlier this week. Now, prepare to see those characters in LEGO form.

    Yes, everyone’s favorite toy bricks are releasing a “Ghostbusters”-themed set of minifigs and vehicles in honor of the new flick, and the company previewed the pieces on Friday. The models include titular heroines Erin Gilbert (Kristen Wiig), Abby Yates (Melissa McCarthy), Jillian Holtzmann (Kate McKinnon), and Patty Tolan (Leslie Jones), along with their bespectacled receptionist Kevin (Chris Hemsworth).
    ghostbusters, lego, new ghostbusters, ghostbusters lego, legos, erin gilbert, abby yates, patty tolan, jillian holtzmann, kevinghostbusters, lego, new ghostbusters, ghostbusters lego, legos, erin gilbert, abby yates, patty tolan, jillian holtzmann, kevinghostbusters, lego, new ghostbusters, ghostbusters lego, legos, erin gilbert, abby yates, patty tolan, jillian holtzmann, kevinghostbusters, lego, new ghostbusters, ghostbusters lego, legos, erin gilbert, abby yates, patty tolan, jillian holtzmann, kevinghostbusters, lego, new ghostbusters, ghostbusters lego, legos, erin gilbert, abby yates, patty tolan, jillian holtzmann, kevinIn addition to those known characters, there was also a slight SPOILER revealed by the new models, so if you don’t want to know any more about the film’s plot, stop reading now. Aside from the regular version of Kevin, it looks like there’s also a possessed version, too, featuring red eyes and a menacing snarl. He’s accompanied by what appears to be one of the main antagonists of the film, described by LEGO as a “red Daemon,” which looks sort of like a skeletal, evil bat. (We imagine it’ll be even scarier on film, since director Paul Feig has promised a spookier version of events this time around.)

    The Ecto-1 car and a motorbike dubbed Ecto-2 are also included in the set. (Check out more photos of the set here.) The entire thing will retail for $59.99, and will go on sale on July 1.

    “Ghostbusters” hits theaters on July 15.

    [via: Yahoo! Movies]

    Photo credit: LEGO via Yahoo! Movies

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  • See Five New ‘Ghostbusters’ Photos, First Trailer Coming ‘End of the Month’

    We got one! Actually, we got five fresh images from the upcoming “Ghostbusters” reboot, plus this promise from director Paul Feig that the first trailer is coming soon:


    So look for that circa Oscars Sunday, February 28, perhaps.

    The photo above is of Chris Hemsworth as Kevin, the 2016 equivalent of Annie Potts’s Janine. He’s more hipsterish than the original ghost-busting secretary, but they both look good in those take-me-seriously glasses.

    Here’s a collection of the other four photos, featuring the main stars in character:


    According to the breakdown on Ghostbusters.com, Patty Tolan, played by Leslie Jones, is described as “Ghost tracker, municipal historian, metaphysical commando.” Abby Yates, played by Melissa McCarthy, is a “Paranormal researcher, supernatural scientist, entity trapper.” Erin Gilbert, played by Kristen Wiig, is a “Particle physicist, academic firebrand, spectral warrior.” Jillian Hotlzmann, played by Kate McKinnon, is a “Nuclear engineer, munitions expert, proton wrangler.” Chris Hemsworth’s Kevin is just listed as “Kevin,” so that is apparently it for his credentials.

    Also on the website, if you look under “Cast,” beneath the four main stars they list “Charles Dance, Michael Kenneth Williams and Chris Hemsworth.” So Tywin Lannister from “Game of Thrones” and Chalky from “Boardwalk Empire” are major players in this, too.

    “Ghostbusters” will be released July 15th.

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  • Ecto Cooler Hi-C May Return for ‘Ghostbusters’ Reboot Release

    ecto cooler, hi-c, slimer, ghostbusters, return, reboot, coca-colaFans of sugary ’90s drinks, rejoice: Ecto Cooler, the long-discontinued Hi-C flavor created in conjunction with the “Ghostbusters” animated series, may be making a comeback, tied to the release of the upcoming film reboot.

    Word spread online this week that Coca-Cola, Hi-C’s parent company, had The Real Ghostbusters” animated series, and first hit shelves in 1987. The bright green, citrus-flavored juice featured green ghost Slimer on the packaging, and has become a staple of ’90s nostalgia. It was so popular that it long out-lived the show, finally getting discontinued in 2001.

    The drink’s return isn’t a certainty just yet — the trademark documents show that the last action on the application was filed earlier this month — but based on other nostalgia-tied products’ recent returns, it seems like a good bet that we’ll all be sipping Ecto Cooler next summer. Stay tuned.

    [via: Justia, h/t Distractify]

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  • Kristen Wiig Responds to ‘Surprising’ ‘Ghostbusters’ Backlash

    Plenty of fans are excited for the new “Ghostbusters” reboot, starring Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon, and Leslie Jones. But others are upset because the original series was just fine on its own for years and they don’t understand why a new movie is being made now. Fair enough. But still other critics seem chiefly ticked off by the idea of rebooting the franchise with an all-female cast. That launched eyes rolling about “PC” and “feminism” and “gimmick,” etc. That train easily derails into ugly fighting in the comments.

    Director Paul Feig has been fielding positive and negative feedback on Twitter, but Kristen Wiig weighed in on the backlash in a new interview with the L.A. Times.

    Here’s that part of the Q&A:

    Have you ever made a movie that had so much attention and even controversy attached to it as you were making it?

    No. And the fact there was so much controversy because we were women was surprising to me. Some people said some really not nice things about the fact that there were women. It didn’t make me mad, it just really bummed me out. We’re really honoring those movies.”

    It is kind of a bummer, especially when some critics have shared extremely angry reactions to something they have yet to see and — breaking news! — never have to see if they don’t want to. Speaking for ourselves, we’re excited to check out the new “Ghostbusters,” and the cameos from most of the OGs, when the movie opens July 15, 2016.

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  • Sigourney Weaver Will Also Cameo in ‘Ghostbusters’ (No Word on Zuul)

    American Ballet Theatre's 75th Anniversary Diamond Jubilee Spring GalaPaul Feig‘s upcoming take on “Ghostbusters” is shaping up to be more of a reunion than a reboot, with original star Sigourney Weaver officially joining the cast.

    Weaver, who played Dana Barrett in 1984’s “Ghostbusters” and 1989’s “Ghostbusters II,” is set to make an appearance in the new flick, according to Feig. The director, in an effort to stave off too many spoilers, revealed the news himself on Twitter, calling the actress “awesome.”

    There’s no word on whether or not Weaver will be playing Barrett, though we’re assuming that like her other fellow original “Ghostbusters” stars Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, and Annie Potts, she’ll be making a cameo as a new character. And just look at that list, folks — the fact that Feig was able to wrangle so many members of the original cast (RIP, Harold Ramis) is a miracle in and of itself; whoever they’re all playing, fans should be pleased so see them on the big screen together regardless.

    The only major holdout left is Rick Moranis. Fingers crossed Feig can snag him, too.

    “Ghostbusters” stars Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones, and Chris Hemsworth. It hits theaters on July 15, 2016.

    [via: Paul Feig]

    Photo credit: Getty Images

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