‘Ghostbusters’: Jason Reitman Apologizes for Comments About Paul Feig’s Reboot

The controversial opinions regarding the Ghostbusters franchise gained new life this week, turning Twitter into a warzone once again. Jason Reitman, director of the upcoming Ghostbusters reboot/sequel, appeared on Bill Burr’s podcast and made comments about how his new iteration of the story will return the franchise to the roots laid down by his father, and “hand the movie back to the fans.” Of course, this comment was immediately taken as a criticism of Paul Feig’s 2016 Ghostbusters reboot, which featured four women in the lead roles and caused toxic fanboys around the world to lose their collective minds.

Fortunately, Reitman meant nothing of the sort with his comments. He was simply trying to say that he was aiming to find the same tone and vibe of the original film with his new take, and he took to Twitter on Wednesday night to clear up the confusion.

“This is going to be a love letter to Ghostbusters. I love this franchise. I grew up watching it. I consider myself the first Ghostbusters fan,” Reitman initially said on the podcast. “I was like seven years old when that movie came out and I love it. I want to make a movie for my fellow Ghostbusters fans.” He concluded with, “We are, in every way, trying to go back to the original technique and hand the movie back to the fans.”

With the following tweet, Reitman acknowledged that his comments were poorly worded, and he has the utmost respect for Feig, as well as the 2016 Ghostbusters cast, Leslie Jones, Kate McKinnon, Melissa McCarthy, and Kristen Wiig.

“Wo, that came out wrong,” Reitman wrote in a tweet Wednesday night. I have nothing but admiration for Paul and Leslie and Kate and Melissa and Kristen and the bravery with which they made Ghostbusters 2016. They expanded the universe and made an amazing movie!”

A few hours after that tweet, Paul Feig responded, saying that he Reitman completely support each other in all of these Ghostbusters ventures.

“Jason was a supporter of mine at a time when I couldn’t get movies made,” Feig replied. “He has always been a true gentleman to me and a supporter of Ghostbusters: Answer the Call. I can’t wait to see his take on the Ghostbusters universe. Big love and respect to you, Jason. Your fan, Paul.”

Ghostbusters was created to be a fun-loving franchise that every fan could rally around, and it looks like both Paul Feig and Jason Reitman both understand that better than anyone.

The new Ghostbusters is set to hit theaters on July 10, 2020.