Dan Akroyd wans you to know he's not happy with how the most recent Ghostbusters film turned out, and he puts all of the blame on director Paul Feig. The film opened last year with a ton of fanfare due to Feig and its talented all-female cast, with the original Ghostbusters, including Akroyd, appearing in cameos. After lukewarm reviews I finished up with around $220M worldwide on a $144M budget, and that's what Akroyd is upset over. He absolutely tears into Feig on the UK's Sunday Brunch, throwing a little extra spice in his comments, too...
“The director, he spent too much on it. 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 any time soon.”
Damn, not even allowed on the Sony lot? I didn't know Akroyd had that kind of pull! Maybe he does, maybe he doesn't. Sony piped up and refuted Akroyd's claim, saying the reshoots actually cost only $3M or $4M, although to be fair they don't dispute anything else. Apparently the rant was much worse, too, although Channel 4 isn't releasing the full video.
Akroyd had nothing but positive things to say about the cast, calling them "great", but it's clear he's very bitter about all of this. Remember, Akroyd, Ivan Reiman, and the late Harold Ramis invested a lot into turning Ghostbusters into a potential shared universe, and Feig's movie was to be the launch. Clearly that's not happening now, and if a new Ghostbusters franchise does start, it's doubtful Akroyd will give Feig a call.
Don't hold back, Dan. #Ghostbusters pic.twitter.com/WtZ0MbRsmk— Ross Maclean (@ross_maclean) June 4, 2017
