The original star and co-writer of Ghostbusters, Dan Aykroyd, castigated Paul Feig in an interview Sunday for his job directing last summer's Ghostbusters reboot that starred a female cast.
Aykroyd appeared on Britain's Channel 4, where he said Feig made several decisions that caused the movie to lose money, adding that the film's problems had nothing to do with the female cast, Page Six reported Monday.
"The girls are great in it. Kate McKinnon, Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig—what wonderful, wonderful players they are—and Leslie Jones," Aykroyd said on the show "Sunday Brunch." "I was really happy with the movie, but it cost too much. And Sony does not like to lose money, they don't. It made a lot of money around the world but just cost too much, making it economically not feasible to do another one. So that's too bad."
Aykroyd continued to explain why Feig was responsible for the movie's shortcomings.
"The director, he spent too much on it," Aykroyd said. "He didn't shoot scenes we suggested to him and several scenes that were going to be needed and he said, 'Nah, we don't need them.' Then we tested the movie and they needed them and he had to go back. About $30 to $40 million in reshoots. So he will not be back on the Sony lot anytime soon."
Don't hold back, Dan. #Ghostbusters pic.twitter.com/WtZ0MbRsmk
— Ross Maclean (@ross_maclean) June 4, 2017
Sony Pictures denied Aykroyd's allegations and said the reshoot cost was around $3 to $4 million.
The Ghostbusters reboot made $229.1 million worldwide and cost more than $140 million to make.
Before the movie was released, it was met with fierce criticism online. Aykroyd, who was a producer of the movie, said the critics were supporters of then-presidential candidate Donald Trump.
"These people, first of all, they're insignificant gnats, they're losers, they have no lives of their own," Aykroyd said. "They can probably barely pay for the Wi-Fi they're using—probably no jobs. I would say you're looking at obese white men between 50 and 60 who are active Klan members or member of the Aryan Nation and there are millions of them. I'm afraid to say that that contingency will be voting for the Republican ticket."
The official Twitter account of the Ghostbusters reboot appeared to have endorsed then-Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.
"Boo-yah, we smashed your glass ceiling. There was a ghost behind it. #ImWithHer #BustTheCeiling #Ghostbusters," the account tweeted. There was a gif in the tweet with the message: "2016—The year we busted ghosts and the glass ceiling. #I'm with her."
The tweet was later deleted.
The movie also released ads that addressed critics of the movie by highlighting a New York Times review of the film that stated, "Women are funny. Get over it."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2pvBApwMpA
After the 2016 election, some called Hillary Clinton the "Lady Ghostbusters" of presidential candidates.