Five years after the release of the 2016 Ghostbusters reboot, Melissa McCarthy has responded to the backlash the film received. The third film in the franchise, Ghostbusters was a remake of the 1984 film of the same name. Starring McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, and Leslie Jones, the all-female reboot received mixed reviews from both fans and critics. The negative commercial reaction contributed to a box-office bomb, with the film grossing only $222.9 million, marking a $70 million loss.
When an all-female Ghostbusters was announced in 2015, the backlash was immediate. The official trailer on Sony’s Youtube channel has 1.1 million dislikes, and subsequent trailers received similar levels of hate. Comments mostly took issue with the casting, complaining about “double standards” and “unoriginal reboots.” The hate towards the film became so intense that it received several negative IMDb ratings even before its release. The creative team behind Ghostbusters even addressed the negative reception, adding a scene into the film where the crew reads the hateful comments on Youtube.
Melissa McCarthy has come to Ghostbusters‘ defence (via ET Canada), expressing her confusion as to why it received such intense backlash. McCarthy has previously defended the film and the casting in several interviews, emphasizing the “group” of people who feel it necessary to hate on the reboot. The comments were not only misogynistic, but Jones was also accused of promoting racial stereotypes, while simultaneously being the target of racist attacks on social media. In a sentiment echoed by both the cast and director, McCarthy explained her feelings on the “hate-filled” backlash, saying “everybody should be able to tell the story they want to tell.” Read her full comments below:
“There’s no end to stories we can tell, and there’s so many reboots and relaunches and different interpretations, and to say any of them are wrong, I just don’t get it, I don’t get the fight to see who can be the most negative and the most hate-filled. Everybody should be able to tell the story they want to tell. If you don’t want to see it, you don’t have to see it.”
Reboots can be a hit or miss, often struggling to win over the established fanbase and attract new audiences. Some fail by being too different from the source material, while others suffer because they’re not different enough. While Ghostbusters tried to tell a new story within this world, the sexist backlash towards the all-female cast doomed the movie to failure. With countless Halloween sequels and Friday the 13th remakes (and many others) that audiences continuously flock to, it seems that reboots as a concept isn’t the issue, but rather who is the face of the new version. Regardless, the commercial failure of Ghostbusters led studio Columbia Pictures to move in a different direction.
Ghostbusters: Afterlife, a continuation of the main Ghostbusters storyline, has received a far more positive reaction, with commenters on the trailer frequently referring to the 2016 reboot. Fans seem to appreciate that the upcoming sequel seems more familiar to the original property. However, despite some misplaced backlash, the all-female Ghostbusters (and McCarthy’s character, the loveable Dr. Abby Yates), are still adored by countless fans. And luckily for those loyal viewers, McCarthy is soon starring in another upcoming reboot. The actress is set to portray the evil sea witch, Ursula, in Disney’s live-action adaption of The Little Mermaid in 2023.
Key Release Dates
Ghostbusters: Afterlife
Release Date:2021-11-19
