Dan Aykroyd defends maligned all-female Ghostbusters film

‘I don’t besmirch it at all,’ the actor said

Dan Aykroyd has defended the 2016 all-female reboot of Ghostbusters, which received sexist and racist criticism upon its release.

The Blues Brothers actor, 72, starred in Paul Feig’s 1984 supernatural comedy as Ray Stantz, alongside Bill Murray and Harold Ramis – who were replaced by Bridesmaids actresses Kristen Wiig and Melissa McCarthy, and Saturday Night Live comedians Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones for the maligned reboot 32 years later.

The cast of Feig’s 2016 Ghostbusters film faced misogynistic abuse, with Jones being sent racist tweets ahead of and upon its release. The comedian condemned the racism at the time, and retweeted the posts for her followers to witness what she was experiencing.

Speaking to People, Aykroyd defended the film as part of the Ghostbusters franchise and said he is “proud” to have worked on the reboot as a producer.

“I liked the movie Paul Feig made with those spectacular women,” he said.

“I was mad at them at the time because I was supposed to be a producer on there and I didn’t do my job and I didn’t argue about costs. And it cost perhaps more than it should, and they all do. All these movies do.”

The 2016 Ghostbusters reboot cost $144m (£112m) and made $229.1m (£179m) at the box office globally, making an estimated $70m (£55m) loss. The all-female film grossed higher than 2021’s Ghostbusters: Afterlife, however cost nearly twice as much to make.

Bill Murray, Harold Ramis and Dan Aykroyd in ‘Ghostbusters’ (Colombia Pictures)

The former Saturday Night Live star added: “But boy, I liked that film. I thought that the villain at the end was great. I loved so much of it. And of course, Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones and Melissa McCarthy and Kristen Wiig, you’re never going to do better than that.

“So, I go on the record as saying I’m so proud to have been able to licence that movie and have a hand and have a part in it” he continued. “And I’m fully supportive of it, and I don’t besmirch it at all. I think it works really great amongst all the ones that have been made.”

Leslie Jones, Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig and Kate McKinnon in ‘Ghostbusters’ (Hopper Stone, SMPSP)

At the time of its release, the 2016 Ghostbusters promo video became the most disliked trailer in YouTube history.

“I don’t get the fight to see who can be the most negative and the most hate-filled,” McCarthy said at the time. “Everybody should be able to tell the story they want to tell. If you don’t want to see it, you don’t have to see it.”

Meanwhile, Jones questioned in her memoir, Leslie F*cking Jones: “Why are people being so evil to each other? How can you sit and type ‘I want to kill you.’ Who does that?

“Sad keyboard warriors living in their mother’s basements hated the fact that this hallowed work of perfect art now featured — gasp! horror! — women in the lead roles,” she added.

“Worst of all, of course, was that one of the lead characters was a Black woman. For some men this was the final straw.”