While the fanbase is still fairly split across the thin line between loving and hating the 2016 Ghostbusters reboot, which was released as simply Ghostbusters (2016) and now is referred to as Ghostbusters: Answer The Call (2016), it would seem they aren’t entirely alone.
Ghostbusters franchise star Ernie Hudson recently weighed in on the reboot that failed to take off the way the filmmakers hoped. Hudson played Winston Zeddemore in the original Ghostbusters (1984) film and its sequel Ghostbusters II (1989) alongside Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, and Harold Ramis. The original films were a massive hit with audiences and quickly grew into a pop culture phenomenon that spawned animated series, toy lines, comics, and even its very own flavor of Hi-C fruit-juice drink (RIP Ecto-Cooler, but at least we have the new Ghostbusters Twinkies coming).
While there was always fan demand for a third film, Bill Murray spent the better part of two-and-a-half decades dragging his feet about ever actually making another Ghostbusters sequel. He ultimately refused to be involved in a sequel if the studio ever moved forward with one. That dragged on until the tragic passing of Harold Ramis in 2014, which many fans assumed meant that the franchise was officially busted for good. But as we all know, movie studios absolutely hate to leave money on the table, so only two years later, we were subjected to the all-female franchise reboot Ghostbusters: Answer The Call (2016).
The film starred Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Leslie Jones, and Kate McKinnon as a quartet of completely new characters in what feels like a very different film universe from the previous two films. In a move that rubbed plenty of people the wrong way, former franchise star Bill Murray was willing to return in a small role as a completely new character in this reboot. Aykroyd and Hudson also had brief cameo appearances as unrelated characters in the 2016 film reboot; a film that Ernie Hudson now says he believes was a mistake.
To clarify, Ernie Hudson doesn’t dislike or even disparage the film itself. He even flat out said he enjoyed it in a recent interview with Living Life Fearless:
The one with the ladies – that I actually liked a lot
But while he did find it enjoyable, he believed the problem wasn’t the film itself, but rather the idea of a reboot at all. He seems to agree with a large portion of the Ghostbusters fanbase in disliking the idea of rebooting the franchise rather than continuing the story from the original films with a proper sequel.
Hudson believed that rebooting the franchise and following new characters didn’t allow the new version to stand on its own merit and be judged for what it is, rather than what it isn’t. Hudson said:
[Rebooting] causes comparisons that you really don’t need to be doing. Reboot, to me, means you’re trying to do the movie over. Another version of what we already did. And I think that was a mistake. It wasn’t a continuation or an extension of. It was somehow a different universe there. You know what I mean? It’s kind of like us, but it’s us but not us.
It certainly seems like a fair criticism to say. Much of the backlash the film received from audiences was directed at what the film wasn’t rather than what it actually was: a fun popcorn flick that gave new actors and characters a chance to shine in a story that is loosely similar to the original.
Was it an exact retelling of the same story? No, but it never set out to be one either. While it certainly wasn’t the timeless classic that its namesake has become, Ghostbusters: Answer The Call had plenty of great ideas. Maybe it would have been better received had it not been for the immediate negative response from fans who did not want to see the franchise rebooted?
Ernie Hudson is set to reprise his role as Winston Zeddemore one more time for this summer’s Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021), which is less of a reboot and more of a legacy-sequel set 30-years after the events of Ghostbusters II (1989). The idea is that the film gives fans a true third film in the Ghostbusters story rather than a completely separate movie cashing in on the Ghostbusters name and brand recognition. The film also sees the return of original franchise stars Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Annie Potts, and Sigourney Weaver, who will be joined by new cast members including McKenna Grace, Finn Wolfhard, Carrie Coon, and Paul Rudd.
Keeping things in the Ghostbusters family, Ghostbusters: Afterlife is directed by Jason Reitman, who is the son of the original film’s director Ivan Reitman. While the film has yet to be released, there is no way to know how audiences will receive it. Expectations are high among the fanbase and people are hoping that the film will lead to additional sequels. There have been no suggestions that this film will in any way tie in to the 2016 reboot, but you never really know how things will go with this franchise.
After multiple release date changes due to the global pandemic, Ghostbusters: Afterlife is expected to release on November 11, 2021.
Are you excited about Ghostbusters: Afterlife? Did you enjoy Ghostbusters: Answer The Call? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below and be sure to stick around Geek Anything for more Ghostbusters updates!
