Ghostbusters: No Reboot Sequel per Dan Aykroyd, Paul Feig blasted

Dan Aykroyd broke the news on Sunday morning that there will not be a sequel to the Ghostbusters reboot.

Aykroyd made the announcement during an appearance on Sunday Brunch on Britain’s Channel 4.  Aykroyd was careful not to mention director Paul Feig’s name.

“The director, he spent too much on it and he didn’t shoot scenes we suggested to him, Aykroyd said.  “Several scenes that were going to be needed, he said, ‘No, we don’t need them.’  And then we tested the movie and they needed them, and he had to go back — about $30 to $40 million in reshoots.”

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the reshoots only cost some 3-4 milion and dismissed Aykroyd’s comments about Feig by saying “the studio had an incredible relationship with the director, who was first-rate.”

A dancing sequence cut from the film featuring Chris Hemsworth was reported to have cost in the low seven figure range and the scene was moved to be shown in the credits following deleted scenes.

Ghostbusters was produced on a $144 million budget but it only earned $229.1 worldwide.  There was a lot of negative reaction to the casting of four women in the leading roles.  Could this have led to a less-than-preferred take at the box office?  Most likely.

The good news?  Aykroyd was “really happy with the movie.”

“The girls are great in it. Kate McKinnon, Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig – what wonderful, wonderful players they are – and Leslie Jones,” Aykroyd said.  “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.”

It’s the budget that really hurt the chances of a sequel being produced.

Last summer, studio executives were leaning towards a sequel as the film opened in July. “While nothing has been officially announced yet, there’s no doubt in my mind it will happen,” said Sony’s president of worldwide distribution, Rory Bruer. (THR).

It’s a shame that a sequel is unlikely.  I was really looking forward to seeing how well the team of Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon, and Leslie Jones would do in the next installment.

For a limited time, you can watch Aykroyd’s appearance here.