Dan Aykroyd has once again let his opinions be known about director Paul Feig and 2016’s Ghostbusters. A few days ago Aykroyd dragged Feig into a public mudslinging match over his vision of Ghostbusters, and was quoted as saying:
He spent too much on it. He didn’t shoot scenes we suggested to him and several scenes were going to be needed. Feig said, “nah, we don’t need them”.
Aykroyd didn’t stop there. As he also felt the need to speak on behalf of Sony and went on to say:
Then we tested the movie and they needed them (the extra scenes) and he had to go back. About $30 to $40 million in re-shoots. So he will not be back on the Sony lot any time soon.
Since his interview, Sony has defended Paul Feig and the film by stating that the re-shoots cost closer to $3 to $4 million. That’s a massive difference. For someone who was an executive producer on the film, you have to wonder where Aykroyd gets his information. There is no doubt that Aykroyd knew what he was signing on for when he joined the film.
What it actually feels like is that Aykroyd just can’t handle the fact that his version of Ghostbusters never made it into production. Aykroyd’s Ghostbusters 3: Hellbent, would have seen the paranormal investigators and eliminators traveling to another dimension. Where they would fight demons in a “hellish” version of Manhattan, appropriately named “Manhellton”.
There have been numerous ideas and script drafts floating around for the better part of 20 years, Emmy-nominated writers Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky (The Office) were hired by Columbia Pictures to help flesh out a new franchise. Some of those drafts included:
- Dana’s son Oscar taking up the mantle of a Ghostbuster
- The original Ghostbusters training a new generation
- Bill Murray would reprise his role, but only if he was a ghost
It seems as though Aykroyd has backtracked on his comments by taking to his personal Twitter account and said the following.
Paul Feig made a good movie and had a superb cast and plenty of money to do it. We just wish he had been more inclusive to the originators.
First of all, who is “we”? Do you mean YOU? At this current point in time, it feels as though Dan Aykroyd is being selfish. If I had worked 20 odd years on stories, drafts and trying to get my version and ideas onto the screen, I would feel a little frustrated that a director wouldn’t take my suggestions on board. However, this is not Dan Aykroyd’s Ghostbusters. Even though the film failed to fire, you don’t need to publicly ridicule a man for a movie that Aykroyd himself signed off on.
Aykroyd has had his chance to get his vision of Ghostbusters made, but his ideas and creative differences with studios and former cast members are what ultimately lead to Feig taking up the reigns. Let us not forget, Aykroyd was responsible for the atrocity of Blues Brothers 2000. So he shouldn’t be throwing any stones now, should he?