What True Fans Will Hate About The Ghostbusters Reboot
Stuck in development hell for decades, the newest Ghostbusters film plans on being a sharp departure from the original pair of flicks. Fans of the original franchise are already exhibiting rage at the proposed changes presented in this rebooted universe, but what will they hate the most? Here are ten prime candidates for ghost-geek freakouts.
The All-Female Cast
The most obvious change in the franchise is that the new Ghostbusters are all female. While Ghostbusters fans have always related to weird guys exploring the paranormal, the new cast will attract a different audience. Will the new flick have enough science fiction to keep everyone happy, or will it just be another goofy flick like Paul Feig's Spy? Let's hope for some real substance alongside the comedy and progressive cast choices.
The Ecto-1
While the Ghostbusters' original repurposed 1959 Cadillac is an iconic part of movie history, the team's new ride is probably going to be vastly different and controversial. Unless the new vehicle is a tricked-out A-Team van dripping nostalgia from the tailpipe, or a repainted schoolbus, what's the point? No one's going to go into a toy store and buy the Ghostbusters' soccer mom SUV. Even if it has slime-launching action.
Egon Is Gone
Harold Ramis, alongside Dan Aykroyd, championed the Ghostbusters franchise for many years, in between other projects. Unfortunately, Ramis passed away in 2014, before the new film began production, but after he'd had some input on the film's direction. Without the possibility of his bespectacled cameo, Ghostbusters seems a lot less interesting.
Bill Murray Bowed Out
Without Egon, Ghostbusters is already half-dead. Without Bill Murray's Peter Venkman, there's hardly a point. Murray has teased about his involvement for years, lending his voice to 2009's Ghostbusters video game, and even appearing in costume at the 2010 Scream Awards, but Murray has more recently expressed that he hasn't read a script that he cares to be a part of.
It's Been Done
Aykroyd's script for Ghostbusters 3 was never filmed, but a version of it finally became a video game in 2009. The entire Ghostbusters cast believed in the story enough to reunite and lend their voices to the game, making it the true third part of the Ghostbusters Trilogy. The new film is seen by many as a nostalgia-based cash-grab.
Ghost Corps
Sony plans on riding the Ghostbusters property into the grave, and has already envisioned another movie based in the same universe called Ghost Corps, starring Channing Tatum. It'll likely consist of an action-figure-ready team of dudes busting ghosts, and was a product of the public backlash against the Bridesmaids-gone-'Busters script already being produced.
It's A Reboot
True fans are always interested in seeing how a fictional universe has played out in the years following the official story, so there's a built-in fanbase for stories picking up after a huge lapse in time, as with the recently resurrected Twin Peaks or Arrested Development, but instead, Feig's film will be a complete re-imagining of the story. Unless he pulls some kind of Star Trek cross-universe magic, what's the point?
Who You Gonna Call?
Even if you've never seen the film, you know Ray Parker Jr.'s theme song. It's fun, catchy, and relevant. Unfortunately, blockbuster films have a tendency to choose from the very worst that pop music wants to promote. If we get a Ghostbusters theme performed by acne cream spokesgirl Zendaya, it's reason enough to never pay to see another movie again.
Secretary Thor
Chris Hemsworth, also known as Marvel's blonde god Thor, has signed on to play the ladies' secretary. Brace yourselves for inappropriate workplace sexual harassment jokes, people. We get it, though — all genders are equal and are equally capable of all jobs, but the whole thing may feel like something you'd find in the sadder gender-swap sections of DeviantArt.
But Really, Women Ghostbusters?
"True" fans have accused Feig of literally going back in time and ruining their childhoods, being an anti-reproduction feminist (whatever that is), and of pushing forth an agenda created by "cross generational estrogen polluted" men. Paranoid ranting aside, Feig is just trying to make his mark on a classic franchise. Whether he has the right or the talent remains to be seen.