Paul Feig calls out Sony for omitting his 2016 ‘Ghostbusters’ from new box set
There's no place for his all-female reboot in the forthcoming 'Ultimate Gift Set'
By Joe Goggins
Paul Feig has hit out at Sony Pictures for omitting his his 2016 ‘Ghostbusters’ reboot from an otherwise comprehensive new box set.
The ‘Bridesmaids’ director helmed the all-female update of the 1980s classic five years ago, with Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones and Melissa McCarthy in central roles. The movie divided critics, was the subject of misogynistic online hate campaigns and ultimately bombed at the box office.
Another new ‘Ghostbusters’ film, ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife’, is currently playing in cinemas. It’ll arrive on Blu-Ray and 4K Ultra HD in the US on February 2, and to mark the occasion, Sony will also release stand-alone Blu-Rays of the original 1984 film as well as its 1989 sequel, ‘Ghostbusters II’. The eight-disc ‘Ultimate Gift Set’ will tie the two eighties instalments and ‘Afterlife’ together with a documentary, ‘Making Ghostbusters’, but there is no place for Feig’s film.
Posting an article from SlashFilm on the omission on Twitter, the director said: “Um … @SonyPictures, I know this must be a mistake. We do have a lot of fans and Bill, Dan and Ernie were in it and it won the Kids Choice Award for Best Feature Film the year it came out. So, I guess this was just an oversight?”
Sony have yet to comment. Filmmaker BJ Colangelo, who penned the SlashFilm piece, elaborated on it on Twitter, saying: “I genuinely hate the exclusion of [Feig’s film] from this set. I keep seeing people argue quality or canon but could you imagine if someone did a HALLOWEEN box set and left out the ones people think are “bad” or change canon? This is so disrespectful.”
Some ‘Ghostbusters’ fans have pointed out that Feig’s version was not part of the same universe as the other three, arguing that justifies its exclusion. Others, though, suspected that the movie was being written out of ‘Ghostbusters’ history, and pointed to the toxicity of a part of the fanbase’s response at the time. “Sony treated everybody involved with this film like garbage from day one and it’s ridiculous,” said @ghostbustin84 in a reply to Feig’s tweet. “They did nothing to protect any of the women in the cast from the online hate, and especially not Leslie Jones who received the most vitriol. It’s appalling.”
‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife’ is in UK cinemas now, having opened last month to mixed reviews.