Back when Paul Feig's Ghostbusters reboot was first announced, it rode a massive media hype wave and seemed to gather a ton of support from film fans. Sure, the reboot had its detractors, but the concept of an all-female Ghostbusters from the same team that brought us Bridesmaids was enough to get audiences rumbling about a Ghostbusters reboot.
A few months later? Not so much. The reception for the Paul Feig-directed Ghostbusters, starring Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones, Kate McKinnon and Cecily Strong, has become a little tepid. And worse, the annoucement of a second Ghostbusters film- this one starring Channing Tatum and potentially Chris Pratt, to be directed by Joe and Anthony Russo (who directed Captain America: The Winter Soldier and will also helm Captain America: Civil War and both Avengers: Infinity War films) has started to turn audiences against a new Ghostbusters franchise.
Especially considering that Ghostbuster, like every single other movie these days (at least, that's what it feels like), will be made into an expanded universe. People are starting to get sick of this idea already- which is the point made in a recent piece in The Hollywood Reporter. They claim that the idea of an expanded universe where everything is Ghostbusters would get very dull, very fast and that the best option would be to link separate franchises into one universe- their example being Ghostbusters, Men in Black and 21 Jump Street (which, admittedly, sounds way better that just two competing Ghostbusters movies).
And if Sony's Ghostbusters support continues to plummet, it's certainly possible that this whole Ghostbusters experiment crashes, burns and is swept under the rug. It's happened to Sony before- remember their plans for an Amazing Spider-Man expanded universe, with films starring Aunt May and the Sinister Six? Remember how that had to be cancelled and Sony had to lend Spider-Man back to Marvel Studios? It could always happen again.
And in case it doesn't, Ghostbusters will premiere on July 22, 2016.
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