Ghostbusters fans were thrilled at news earlier this month that a Ghostbusters film serving as a continuation of the first two films is on its way, set for a 2020 release. However, not everyone is so happy about the news — including Ghostbusters reboot star Leslie Jones.
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Jones, who starred in the 2016 all-female reboot directed by Paul Feig, took to Twitter to share her frustration that Jason Reitman’s new movie is going to bypass the film.
So insulting. Like fuck us. We dint count. It’s like something trump would do. (Trump voice)”Gonna redo ghostbusteeeeers, better with men, will be huge. Those women ain’t ghostbusteeeeers” ugh so annoying. Such a dick move. And I don’t give fuck I’m saying something!!
— Leslie Jones 🦋 (@Lesdoggg) January 19, 2019
“So insulting,” Jones wrote. “Like f*ck us. We dint count. It’s like something Trump would do. (Trump voice) ‘Gonna redo Ghostbusteeeeers, better with men, will be huge. Those women ain’t Ghostbusteeeeers.’ Ugh so annoying. Such a dick move. And I don’t give a f*ck I’m saying something.”
Feig’s Ghostbusters starred Jones along with Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, and Kate McKinnon and despite largely positive critical reviews, the film didn’t perform particularly well at the box office thanks in part to the backlash from some franchise fans at the film having all-female leads. That backlash included online trolling as well as racist attacks targeted at Jones who, in turn, left Twitter for a time. The criticism of the film is something that Sandra Bullock — who herself was part of the all-female Oceans 8 — called out as unfair.
“That was unfair on a level that I can’t even not be mad about talking about,” Bullock told Variety. “They literally walked into a firing squad.”
Feig himself even spoke out about the criticism last fall.
“It was shocking,” Feig said. “I still think about it a lot, honestly — sometimes I’m like, ‘OK, stop thinking about it.’ Because I’m really proud of the movie, and while people still send me mean things, overwhelmingly more people tell me they love it.”
As for Jones’ response to the upcoming Ghostbusters 3, she isn’t alone in taking issue. Little White Lies‘ Hanna Woodhead told The Hollywood Reporter that she feels like the new project is missing a real opportunity by bypassing the 2016 reboot.
“I think we suffer from this collective sense of nostalgia in film, where we’re always looking to the past rather than the future,” Woodhead says. “The past is safe. The past is easy.”
Right now, not a lot of details are available for the upcoming Ghostbusters, but Reitman has said that while his film will bypass the 2016 film, he has a lot of respect for the reboot.
“I have so much respect for what Paul created with those brilliant actresses, and would love to see more stories from them,” Reitman said. “However, this new movie will follow the trajectory of the original film.”
What do you think about Jones’ comments? Let us know in the comments below.
