We all know by now that the 2016 reboot of Ghostbusters with its all-female lead flopped at the box office. But why is this so? Well, Ernie Hudson, the actor behind Dr. Winston Zeddemore from the original Ghostbusters films, has his own ideas.

Zeddemore and actor Ernie Hudson from Ghostbusters.
And now a word from the good doctor Zeddemore.

Ernie Hudson recently spoke with JoBlo.com, where he talked about the Ghostbusters reboot film. Specifically, he gives his take on why the movie might’ve flopped so badly, despite getting some pretty respectable reviews from critics. Heck, Hudson himself actually likes the film. His exact words were though:

When you say reboot, which is the third movie, the one with the ladies – that I actually liked a lot. I definitely loved everybody who was in it. Paul Feig, I’m still fans of theirs – they tried to do a reboot. And a reboot, to me, means you’re trying to do the movie over. Another version of what we already did. And I think that was a mistake. It wasn’t a continuation or an extension of. It was somehow a different universe there. You know what I mean? It’s kind of like us, but it’s us but not us. In that universe, they’re women. I don’t know. That was a choice that was made.

Not Everything Needs a Reboot, Especially Not Ghostbusters

Huh, didn’t seem like a bad movie from the trailer. Except for the 1.1 million dislikes.

In total, the 2016 reboot of Ghostbusters managed to earn $229.1 million USD. Except, due to the massive amount of money spent on marketing, Columbia pictures, estimated that the film needed to earn at least $300 million USD just to break even. No matter how you look at it, it’s a flop, and a big one to boot. And yet, it needn’t be.

The Rise of Skywalker: another flop aside from Ghostbusters.
Just like how a certain Star Wars film needn’t be a flop.

Based on Ernie Hudson’s remarks, the primary problem with the Ghostbusters reboot was simply the fact that it was a reboot. Simply speaking, the original Ghostbusters films did not need a reboot. They were not only good enough as they are, but they also had (and continues to have) a diehard fanbase. Making a reboot of the franchise completely alienated those diehard fans, which made the backlash rather inevitable.

George Lucas: introduce Jar Jar Binks, hint that he's a Sith, scrap the idea after fan backlash...repeat.
Ghostbusters, feel George Lucas’ pain.

Personally, I think the Ghostbusters reboot would’ve worked much better had it simply been another movie in the franchise. A sort of quasi-sequel/spin-off, perhaps. Sure, you’ll get some portion of the audience who won’t be happy that the film features an all-female lead, but that’s to be expected. At least they won’t alienate the other fans of the original films. Without that reboot hanging over it, it would’ve been a much more successful film in the box office.

Conclusion

Ernie Hudson has a rather high opinion of the 2016 Ghostbusters reboot film. It’s just that he’d rather it not be a reboot at all. Ah, oh well, that ship has sailed now. At least, we have Afterlife to look forward to on November 11, 2021. Provided that they don’t delay its release again.

Source: JoBlo.com