All-Female 'Ghostbusters' Star SLAMS New Sequel: 'It's Like Something Trump Would Do'
By Emily Zanotti - The Daily Wire
Leslie Jones, comedian and star of the all-female "Ghostbusters" reboot, is slamming the upcoming "Ghostbusters" sequel, calling the studio's decision to greenlight a new movie by director Jason Reitman "insulting."
Entertainment Weekly broke news of the upcoming sequel last week in an interview with Reitman, son of the original "Ghostbusters" director, Ivan Reitman. The new movie, which has a release date of 2020, will take place in the same universe as the original and will reportedly feature the same cast as the 1980 version (though without Harold Ramis, who died several years ago). Reitman promises newcomers — four teenaged "Ghostbusters" protegees — and a fresh storyline.
But not everyone was happy to hear that the all-female cast, which starred in a 2016 reboot, was passed over for a second film in favor of the first movie's nearly all-male cast, even though the reboot lost more than $70 million for Sony Pictures, according to the The Hollywood Reporter.
Leslie Jones accused Sony Pictures of sexism and of "insulting" the all-female cast.
“So insulting. Like fuck us. We dint count,” she wrote on Twitter, referencing her 2016 co-stars, Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig and Kate McKinnon.
Then, she got political, accusing the studio of emulating America's President.
“It’s like something trump would do. (Trump voice) ‘Gonna redo ghostbusteeeeers, better with men, will be huge. Those women ain’t ghostbusteeeeers’ ugh so annoying," she tweeted.
“Such a dick move. And I don’t give fuck I’m saying something!” she finished.
Jones later "clarified" her comments to The Independent saying, "The point is if they make this new one with all men and it does well which it will. It might feel that ‘boys are better’ it makes my heart drop...Maybe I could have use different words but I’m allowed to have my feelings just like them."
The "Ghostbusters" all-female reboot was heralded as a "feminist achivement" and proof that women could helm an action movie, but the film itself didn't live up to the hype. While enjoyable, it was no blockbuster. Sony Pictures, which had been so excited about the movie it promised a sequel before the film even hit theaters, quickly went back on that promise when the box office numbers rolled in.
According to the Hollywood Reporter:
As of Aug. 7, Ghostbusters had earned just under $180 million at the global box office, including $117 million domestic. The film still hasn't opened in a few markets, including France, Japan and Mexico, but box-office experts say it will have trouble getting to $225 million despite a hefty net production budget of $144 million plus a big marketing spend. The studio has said break-even would be $300 million.
While the studio publicly credited the reboot with resuscitating the dying Ghostbusters brand, studio bigwigs privately claimed the franchise had an "uncertain future" and that they were exploring an "animated" Ghostbusters feature rather than a sequel to the all-female reboot.
Now, it seems, Sony has switched directions entirely, handing the reins back to the original family that made Ghostbusters a household name.
The feminists were hardest hit. Radical women's "geek" publication, The Mary Sue, was inconsolable over the news, calling the new sequel "unnecessary," and insisting that "Slimer has had his time" and that the Ghostbusters should "just die," especially since there was no guarantee Reitman's new version would be "inclusive" — the gold standard for all social justice warrior products.
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