Dan Akroyd reveals exactly where Ghostbusters reboot went wrong. Photo / Getty Images
Dan Akroyd reveals exactly where Ghostbusters reboot went wrong. Photo / Getty Images
During the controversy surrounding last year's all-female Ghostbusters remake, the film had one powerful and vocal ally: Dan Aykroyd, who wrote and starred in the original 1984 film.
While many fans railed against the divisive remake, Aykroyd gave it his seal of approval, even appearing in the film in acameo role.
Now, almost one year on from the movie's release, Aykroyd is less glowing in his praise. Making an appearance on UK television this week, the 64-year-old star was asked about the remake, and saved his harshest criticism for director Paul Feig.
"The girls are great in it. Kate McKinnon, Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig - what wonderful, wonderful players they are - and Leslie Jones. I was really happy with the movie, but it cost too much," he revealed.
"And Sony does not like to lose money. It made a lot of money around the world but just cost too much, making it economically not feasible to do another one. So that's too bad - the director, he spent too much on it," he said.
"He didn't shoot scenes we suggested to him and several scenes that were going to be needed and he said, 'Nah, we don't need them.' Then we tested the movie and they needed them and he had to go back. About $30 to $40 million in reshoots. So he will not be back on the Sony lot any time soon."
Ouch. While Ghostbusters wasn't a spectacular failure - the remake raked in almost a quarter of a billion US dollars in worldwide box office takings - it was still classed as a flop for Sony, having cost a hefty $US144 million, not including marketing spend.
Feig, an experienced comedy director with hits like Bridesmaids, The Heat and Spy under his belt, had admitted the stakes were high even before the film's release.
"A movie like this has to at least get to like $500 million worldwide, and that's probably low," he said.
Variety reported that the film finished with a total loss of around $75 million. The original Ghostbusters film made almost $300 million worldwide from a budget of just $30 million.
