“What does Marvel mean to Fox?” ‘Ghostbusters’ Creator Failed Miserably in Following Marvel’s Footsteps
The American supernatural comedy film Ghostbusters, which was written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis and produced and directed by Ivan Reitman, is about three eccentric parapsychologists who, as the title suggests, form a ghost-catching enterprise in New York City. The first comedy film to use Columbia Pictures’ pricey special effects was Ghostbusters in 1984.
After its initial run, the film gained critical acclaim, quickly became a cultural phenomenon, and was hailed for its seamless blend of comedy, action, and horror. In 1984, Ghostbusters overtook movies released at the time to become the second-highest-grossing film. The film’s creator has previously stated that he had high ambitions for it. Let’s read more.
Dan Aykroyd’s plans for Ghostbusters included a Marvel-like franchise
During an interview with Contact Music back in 2014, comic actor and creator of Ghostbusters Dan Aykroyd shared that he was ambitious when it came to the future of his creation, hinting that he had been looking at larger, more lucrative models, including Marvel, for inspiration. He said,
“It’s beyond just another sequel, a prequel, another TV show. I’m thinking what does the whole brand mean to Sony? What do Pixar and Star Wars mean to Disney? What does Marvel mean to Fox?”
It was known that the comic actor had looked especially at the Marvel Cinematic Universe and how it went on to utilize its content, noting that he had envisioned something similar like that for Ghostbusters. He said,
“It’s up on blocks, it needs new electronics, new everything. That’s what we have to do. The whole Ghost vehicle had to be rebuilt. That’s the ambitious thinking that’s going on now. Taking on the model of Marvel where we take all of the elements that are in this movie and we put them out there as different ideas.”
Chris Hemsworth worried Ghostbusters would end his career
Marvel actor Chris Hemsworth, who plays Thor in the MCU, played Kevin Beckman, a very attractive but dim-witted receptionist in the 2016 reboot of the Ghostbusters movie starring an all-female cast including Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, and Leslie Jones. The movie was directed by Paul Feig and did not receive the acclaim it had hoped for and most of the criticism the movie received was driven by sexism and a lack of interest in female-led reboots.
Chris Hemsworth in his interview with GQ shared that he was worried about his career after he starred in a movie that was not well received by the audience and the critics. The actor who is known as one of the phenomenal actors in the industry felt that he was going to let the cast members down. He said in the interview,
“I said to Paul [Feig], “There’s not a whole lot on the page, like, what do you want me doing?” He said, “Oh, we’ll figure it out when you get here.” So I said, “Okay, why not? Let’s go.” And I got there, turned up to the studio the day before we started shooting and he handed me the script. I read the script and I said, “There’s still nothing in here. Like, what am I doing?”
He continued, “And he said, “It’s okay, we’re gonna improvise and have fun.” And my immediate reaction was, this is not only the end of my career but I’m going to ruin this film, I’m gonna let everyone down, I haven’t done this before, what am I doing?”
The actor said everyone on the film set took him under their wing and helped him improvise, which helped him a lot to grow more confident, especially during filming as Thor.
Leslie Jones slams director Jason Reitman for shading 2016’s reboot movie
Actress Leslie Jones, who had appeared in 2016’s reboot of Ghostbusters, which was a female-led movie, and during a conversation with Bill Burr on his podcast in 2019, the director of Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Jason Reitman, seemingly shaded the 2016 movie.
He said at the time, as quoted in Vanity Fair, that the new Ghostbusters would be a reboot that would go back to the original technique and hand the movie back to the fans. He explained, “We went back and found the original physical vinyl letters that they used to create the Ghostbusters poster in 1984, [and] rescanned them, then our title guys reprinted them and we filmed the titles. We shot physical titles with a light-and-smoke effect ’cause that’s how they would have done it back in the day.”
Leslie Jones addressed the comments made by the director, adding in her memoir via GameRant,
“Bringing up the idea of giving the movie ‘back to the fans’ was a pretty clear shout-out to all those losers who went after us for making an all-female [movie]. Why are people being so evil to each other? How can you sit and type ‘I want to kill you.’ Who does that? Sad keyboard warriors living in their mother’s basements hated the fact that this hallowed work of perfect art now featured — gasp! Horror! — Women in the lead roles. Worst of all, of course, was that one of the lead characters was a Black woman. For some men, this was the final straw.”
The director later clarified his comments and said what he said came out wrong and he has nothing but admiration for the actress along with stating that he finds them brave for expanding the Universe.
Source: Contact Music
