It’s finally here – the highly-anticipated female-led reboot of “Ghostbusters”. “Bridesmaids” and “Spy” director Paul Feig collaborates with star Melissa McCarthy for the fourth time, headlining the cast with “SNL” alum Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones. Chris Hemsworth leads the supporting cast – and original members Bill Murray and Dan Ackroyd make cameo appearances.
When Sony unveiled the first trailer back in March, it quickly became the Most Disliked Movie Trailer in YouTube History, with more than 900,000 “Thumbs Down”. McCarthy kept things positive in an interview shortly after that milestone was made public: “I don’t pay attention to any of that stuff. [Ghostbusters] was a blast making, it was really fun and the movie’s going to be amazing.”
And when it comes to the boatload of negative online reaction, most of it centered around the idea that women shouldn’t play Ghostbusters, McCarthy told The Guardian, “All those comments – ‘You’re ruining my childhood!’ I mean, really?! Four women doing any movie on earth will destroy your childhood? I have a visual of those people not having a Ben [Falcone, her husband], not having friends, so they’re just sitting there and spewing hate into this fake world of the Internet. I just hope they find a friend.”
On June 8th, “Ghostbusters Day”, the 1984 original was screened in theaters nationwide. And the casts of both the classic and the reboot gathered together on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”, with doorman sidekick Guillermo dressing-up as the Stay Puff Marshmallow Man. And Dan Ackroyd posted this on Facebook about a month ago, “As originator of the original: Saw test screening of new movie. Apart from brilliant, genuine performances from the cast both female and male, it has more laughs and more scares than the first 2 films – plus Bill Murray is in it!”
I’ve seen a trailer for “Ghostbusters” 12 different times in theaters since the initial launch 4 months ago. The original version debuted before “10 Cloverfield Lane”, “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice” (where a guy in the row behind me yelled out “This is Gonna Suck!”) and McCarthy’s “The Boss”. But the trailer was then tweaked for “The Jungle Book” (featuring Murray as the voice of Baloo), “X-Men: Apocalypse”, Sony’s own “The Shallows” and “The Legend of Tarzan”.
So much has been discussed about trying to market “Ghostbusters” to both men and women. But the studio is also making a big play for KIDS – even little kids. A much shorter and much cleaner trailer, dominated by McCarthy and slapstick action, has been playing before “Alice Through the Looking Glass”, “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows”, “Finding Dory”, “The BFG” and “The Secret Life of Pets”. This 2016 “Ghostbusters” is rated PG-13 for “supernatural action and some crude humor” and there are likely also “blasts” of bad language and some sexual references. It’s not a little kids movie, and frankly, neither was the original.
Mixed reviews are already coming in and Sony is screening the nearly two-hour “Ghostbusters” early for critics and audiences across the country (I’m seeing it Wed. night, will post my review Thurs. morning). I ain’t afraid of no ghosts, but I’ve got to admit I am a little worried about what this movie has in store for all of us.