My thoughts exactly, Steve. alot of my “hate” has more to do with the shallowness and greed of Hollywood/Sony than the movie itself.
It’s not so much the movie, but how it came to be, that’s the root of my anger (sony leaks were very illuminating on how retarded the big suits in Hollywood are) Didn’t like how they treated Dan and Ivan or even inderectly post-humously Harold.
So my rants get overlooked as just “nerd rage” rather than a actual statement
Considering the latest news, should we still consider this a reboot? It looks to be ‘evolving’ into a shared universe with the originals, according to the screen-writer and an ever-exhausted Paul Feig.
I’ve never really looked at this film as a straight up reboot, myself. It doesn’t do what most reboots do. The characters are completely different, for one. It does have reboot elements in that we’re reintroducing Ghostbusters to our current context and we’re having a retelling of their origin, but it’s always felt like an alternate universe to me. And an alternate universe always implies the existence of a multiverse.
So to answer the above question, if you’re saying Sony is going to use the next film to open up the idea of a multiverse where, through something crazy, the original team could link up with the new or at least learn of their existence, I say, sure, it could happen. If your saying Sony is going to step in and change Feig’s film this late in the game to be a sequel and not a reboot, I say no. I did not get that at all from the things I’ve read as of late.
What stinks is that, with Dan Aykroyd already filming his cameo, having him show up again as Ray Stantz the Ghostbuster at some point, whether through a dimensional rip or whatever, would feel a bit strange. I don’t know. We’ll see what they come up with.
See, even that to me, is still the same territory. The writer for the new Mission Impossible/Iron Man is a good fit for GB? The studio has no clue who they’re hiring for these films.
Comics/Cartoon aside, what makes the original films unqiue boil down to having their own style. The style of humor, filmmaking, art design, writing, directing etc. I think if you can’t have Harold or Dan write it, or Ivan direct it. t’s not “Ghostbusters”.
Not to say the new movies will be " bad" per se, having not seen them I can’t really say. But i do know the stylings of the original cast/crew. Without them, it just won’t be “Ghostbusters”.
It be like remaking /rebooting Beetlejuice. No Tim Burton, no Keaton, no Tom Defield (art director). It was a film had its own style, it can’t be repeated.
(Yes I know there’s a BJ sequel in the works, but that was my best example)
Totally understand where you’re coming from. For me, I fell in love with Real Ghostbusters which keeps the spirit of the films, but the style is different. It stood out to me as a kid when I watched the actual film. Because I thought as a kid that the cartoon came first, I always questioned why they took so many liberties with the source material. Why weren’t the jumpsuits different for each? Why was Slimer a bad guy? Obviously, I missed the “Citizen Ghost” episode!
But because what I saw in the film matched the spirit of my favorite cartoon (wacky ghosts, ghost wrangling, that crazy wonderful car, and amazing gear) I fell in love with it. If I’m being honest, I’m not a big Reitman fan. Ghostbusters, to me, was his lightning in the bottle, and nothing he’s done recently has really appealed to me. I love Dan, but he really needed Ramis and Reitman to hold some of his creative ideas in check and ground them a bit more.
Because of all of these factors, I have no problem with a new team of creators sharing a new vision of Ghostbusters. I just want them to keep what, to me, is that spirit of Ghostbusters. Whether we’re on board with this film is really going to come down to what makes it Ghostbusters to you and that’s going to vary. And that’s why there was no way everyone was going to be pleased, no matter what decision was made. But I’m not fighting it. It’s in the books and now the only thing to hope for (because I would never hope for anything Ghostbusters to fail) is that this film gains its audience (maybe me?) and rejuvenates the franchise.
Fieg’s new comments aren’t any different than anything he’s said before.
It’s still a hard reboot with dumb references to the original. I think his “not a parody” comments come from the recent leaked Aykroyd cameo, which a lot of people (myself included) interpreted as a parody.
I still point to the leaked story breakdown from Indie Revolver, which seems pretty accurate so far (with a few exceptions). It’s a reboot in the same way as a lot of the recent horror movie reboots. Different characters, same setting, similar story with all the same beats as the original.
Too similar to be unique, too unique to be a remake
Yeah…today’s estimate from me is that there is a 78% chance this movie will be terrible.
One thing they shouldn’t try, however, is aping Aykroyd and Ramis’s writing style. I’d rather a new voice than an attempted imitation. That brand of humor is difficult to pull off, and in my opinion there is a trash heap of people who have tried and failed.
Well yeah. That’s kind of where I’m getting at. the aforementioned people all worked well as a team, and it was their collaboration that made Ghostbusters what it is.
Having been familiar with one another since their late teens/eearly 20s from their Second City and National Lampoon Hour beginnings circa. 1972 (this includes other greats like Belushi, Gilda Radner, etc.) they kneW how each other worked, which is why those films and the classics prior have a very personal touch to them.
Not a huge fan of Ivan either (though he DID make Kindergarten Cop). His heyday was 1972 to 1984. Again SC/National Lampoon to Ghostbusters and the stuff in-between.
A lot of people were saying that having an all female cast is just as sexist as having an all male cast. Which I agree with.
It’s when Feig cast a male sex object (Thor) as the secretary, that the movie actually became overtly sexist/feminist/misandric.
But in our culture misogyny is wrong and misandry doesn’t exist.
If they were saying that, they weren’t saying that here.
which, by the way, I do agree with you.
Your percentages crack me up! So if I’m remembering right your chances of success just went down. Interesting.
Listen, I have no idea whether or not this will be a success or not, personally. Just excited for it to exist and hoping it’s a hit. If anything, the negative backlash has made me pull for it a little more. I know a lot of people who feel that way. July is going to be crazy next year. That’s for sure. See you at the theater.
sony has a production budget of $154 million on the reboot. you can also figure an additional $50 to $100 million on promotion to get butts in seats. thats a $204 to $254 million dollar investment. considering they get roughly 50% of the theater take the reboot will have to clear $408- $508 million to hit “break even”. for sony to even consider a sequel, or spinoff, paul feig presents ghostbusters is going to have to make $600 million at least during the theatrical run. thats a tall order for any film with this kind of budget.
Which is why it drives me crazy when I hear folks wanting it to fail so that they’ll greenlight a traditional sequel or something. Just ain’t going to happen. The new film would have to succeed.
Failure is an option. Then Sony can leave GB 1 and 2 alone. And yes Feig has had some recent success at the box office. But he is due for a flop.
And I just don’t see reboot merchandise selling. The popularity of Star Wars EP7 and Rebels, and the Marvel Toys may not even allow reboot stuff on the shelves.
interesting that there hasnt been any leaks about merchandise and licensing deals. all the merch talk for next year has been centered around the '84 ghostbusters. considering sdcc was just here and by the time it comes around again all merch for the reboot will have started hitting stores is surprising no one is out there bragging they landed the reboot liscensing. i understand mattel had a sony prop of the reboot pack, but from my understanding they didnt share any plans or why they had it there in the first place.
A Sony rep did an interview a few months ago that mentioned fashion dolls and roleplay items based on the new film.
So Ghostbusters Barbie and a reboot pack…dammit I want ecto cooler!
I try to be an optimistic dude, but I just had a pessimistic week. 
Maybe I will be more generous next week.
Mos def.
I at least understand someone not wanting it to fail because you want the franchise to be left alone. I definitely don’t agree, but I at least understand it better than the folks thinking Feigbusters failure will get them the sequel they wanted.
I was reading this breakdown of the Sony email leaks regarding the new film. I get the feeling this film’s writing and production is one enormous committee designed film. Nobody had a good idea on what to make, and nobody had some brilliant vision for a Ghostbusters film. Sony is desperate for a hit and began raiding it’s back catalog for IP and shopped for “it” directors to make something profitable. This film is shaping up to be like Superman Returns or the New Fantastic 4; a development helled, committee designed film that pushes all the right buttons to make money, but has little redeeming value as a film.