Leslie Jones Slams New ‘Ghostbusters’ Sequel As ‘So Insulting’
Not everyone is pleased about the idea of a new Ghostbusters. Leslie Jones, one of the stars of the most recent Ghostbusters film — which rebooted the franchise with an all-female cast of heroes — posted on Twitter last night that she found the upcoming movie (which is not connected to Jones’ film in any way and will instead continue the story from the original two movies) “so insulting.”
Here’s her tweet (beware it contains adult language, if you’re concerned about that sort of thing):
The upcoming Ghostbusters is being co-written and directed by Jason Reitman, the son of director Ivan Reitman, who made the first two Ghostbusters movies. (And who also produced the Leslie Jones version, which was directed by Paul Feig.) As of this writing, Reitman has not responded on Twitter to Jones’ comments. (Neither has Feig or Jones’ Ghostbusters co-star, Melissa McCarthy.)
Even before Jones’ Ghostbusters came out, an army of online trolls mobilized against it, not because of the film’s actual content, but simply because they objected to the very idea of women starring in a Ghostbusters movie. (The internet, it turns out, was a mistake.) They downvoted the trailer in the thousands, and spammed articles and positive reviews with negative comments before ever seeing it. True Jones and McCarthy’s Ghostbusters was a bit of a box-office disappointment, grossing just $229 million worldwide, making a sequel to it unlikely. But you can’t blame Jones for the bitterness; I’m sure the whole experience was dispiriting. (As a longtime Ghostbusters fan who loved the old movies and was disgusted to see what being a Ghostbusters fan meant to many dudes, the whole experience was dispiriting to me too.)
Jason Reitman’s Ghostbusters is expected in theaters in the summer of 2020.
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