Original Ghostbusters Director Blames Reboot Backlash On Nostalgia

Original ‘Ghostbuster’ director Ivan Reitman says the reboot backlash is all about nostalgia…

During an interview with Mashable, the 69-year-old filmmaker explained why he thinks most reboot criticism is based on nostalgia – not sexism.

“I think there’s way too much talk about gender [when it comes to this film],” explained Reitman. “I think that many of the people who were complaining were actually lovers of the [original] movie, not haters of women.”

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And he thinks a lot of the negativity is simply due to bad marketing.

“I think we got off to a bad start,” he said. “It wasn’t so much that the trailer was bad or terrible. In its minute and a half, it couldn’t represent what the movie actually is.”

Of course, the ‘Ghostbusters’ reboot has proved to be pretty controversial since it was first announced… with many viewers down-voting the YouTube trailer after its release. But it’s definitely not just sexism at play here. And the argument that nostalgia has played a big role in the negativity surrounding the film is pretty compelling.

After all, the original ‘Ghostbusters’ was a huge part of many fans childhoods.

But what does Reitman think of the new film? It seems he’s actually a bit of a fan…

“How wonderful those four women are together,” he added. “Individually and together, they’re as unique as Bill Murray and [Dan] Aykroyd and [Harold] Ramis and [Ernie] Hudson were. They look like they should be together. You can’t explain it until you see them moving and talking.”

Although fans of the original ‘Ghostbusters’ have been rather vocal about the new movie, perhaps we should hold off until we’ve actually seen it. After all, it wouldn’t be the first film to suffer due to poor trailers.

And Reitman isn’t the first ‘Ghostbusters’ creative to praise the new film.

“As originator of the original: Saw test screening of new movie,” said Dan Aykroyd. “Apart from brilliant, genuine performances from the cast both female and male, it has more laughs and more scares than the first 2 films plus Bill Murray is in it! As one of millions of man-fans and Ray Stantz, I’m paying to see that and bringing all my friends!”

Will the new ‘Ghostbusters’ be any good?

For now, we’ll have to wait and see… but it’s definitely a good sign.

‘Ghostbusters’ heads to cinemas on 11 July 2016.

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Picture Credit: Columbia Pictures