{"id":8305,"date":"2026-07-10T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thehotedit.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/10\/paul-feigs-ghostbusters-at-10-why-the-reboot-still-sparks-controversy\/"},"modified":"2026-07-10T15:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T14:00:00","slug":"paul-feigs-ghostbusters-at-10-why-the-reboot-still-sparks-controversy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thehotedit.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/10\/paul-feigs-ghostbusters-at-10-why-the-reboot-still-sparks-controversy\/","title":{"rendered":"Paul Feig\u2019s Ghostbusters at 10 Why the Reboot Still Sparks Controversy"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Ten years ago, when Sony Pictures was looking for a crack comedic filmmaker to kickstart the long-dormant Ghostbusters<\/a><\/em> film franchise, Paul Feig<\/a> proved brave enough to answer the call. And the Emmy-winning writer-director behind beloved TV shows like Freaks and Geeks<\/em> and such cinematic blockbusters as Bridesmaids<\/em>, The Heat<\/em>, and Spy<\/em> would do it all over again… even if the fallout nearly busted his Hollywood career. <\/p>\n

“I don’t regret it, and I’m very proud of it,” Feig said of his Ghostbusters<\/em> \u2014 which also goes by the title Ghostbusters: Answer the Call<\/em> \u2014 during a recent appearance at the 2026 Nantucket Film Festival<\/a>, where he received the Visionary Storyteller Tribute award. “But it definitely caused me more trouble than I needed.”<\/p>\n

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The source of that trouble stemmed from the fact that Feig had opted to reboot, rather than continue, the Ghostbusters<\/em> series with an all-female cast of paranormal hunters led by his dynamic Bridesmaids<\/em> duo of Kristen Wiig<\/a> and Melissa McCarthy<\/a> \u2014 who scored a Best Supporting Actress nomination for the 2010 comedy \u2014 alongside Saturday Night Live<\/em> scene stealers Kate McKinnon<\/a> and Leslie Jones<\/a>. Internet trolls were deeply unhappy with that choice, and made their voices heard online in the run-up to the movie’s July 15 release, repeatedly “disliking” the trailer on YouTube and review bombing the film on IMDb sight unseen<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Even then-presidential candidate Donald Trump got into the act, posting a video deriding the movie<\/a> as he pursued the Oval Office opposite his Democratic opponent, Hilary Clinton, who was also the subject of misogynistic attacks on the campaign trail. “It was the worst time to put the movie out,” Feig said in retrospect. “It somehow unnecessarily became a political statement to see that movie, and most audiences were like, ‘I want to see a comedy and have some fun.'” <\/p>\n

Speaking exclusively with Gold Derby after his Nantucket event, the filmmaker stresses that that vocal minority didn’t speak for all Ghostbusters<\/em> fans. “The hardcore Ghost<\/em>heads loved the movie,” he says. “They were so supportive, and are just wonderful people \u2014 they raise money for kids and visit kids’ hospitals in costumes and things like that. This was a secondary group of guys who were they type that would come up to you and your nerdy friends while you were all reading comic books and say, ‘Hey, what’s that? This is cool \u2014 it’s mine now.’ It’s the group who are guarding the manosphere or whatever.<\/p>\n

“I always say that my tombstone’s going to read, ‘Thanks for ruining my childhood,'” Feig adds with a wry laugh. “That’s all I heard for years<\/em> out of these guys.” <\/p>\n

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