Comedian Leslie Jones has blasted plans for a new “Ghostbusters” movie, one that would ignore the franchise’s female-centric 2016 iteration, as “a dick move.”
Sony Pictures announced last week that it had tapped Jason Reitman to direct an all-new “Ghostbusters” that would follow the timeline of the 1984 original, which starred Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, Harold Ramis and Ernie Hudson. A two-time Oscar nominee, Reitman is the son of Ivan Reitman, who directed the first “Ghostbusters” and its 1989 sequel, “Ghostbusters II.”
The new film, scheduled for release in 2020, will reportedly focus on four teenagers (two boys and two girls) but will steer clear of references to 2016′s reboot. That movie, directed by Paul Feig, introduced four women (played by Jones, Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon and Kristen Wiig) as a new spook-hunting team but was otherwise unrelated to its two predecessors in the series.
On Saturday, Jones fired off at the news, calling it “so insulting” and “like something Trump would do.”
The actress and comedian clarified her remarks Sunday on Twitter, noting, “I’m allowed to have my feelings.”
Though 2016′s “Ghostbusters” raked in a reported $229 million at the worldwide box office, the movie received mixed reviews. The Guardian called the film “a misfiring remake,” while Variety said it “suffers from a disappointingly strong case of déjà vu.”
Reitman, who scored Academy Award nominations for 2007′s “Juno” and 2009′s “Up in the Air,” told Entertainment Weekly that his “Ghostbusters” would be “the next chapter in the original franchise” introduced by his father 35 years ago.
“What happened in the ’80s happened in the ’80s, and this is set in the present day,” he said in an interview published Tuesday.
As to the decision to ignore 2016′s “Ghostbusters,” he said, “I have so much respect for what Paul created with those brilliant actresses, and would love to see more stories from them. However, this new movie will follow the trajectory of the original film.”
Clarification: A previous version of this story referred to actor Ernie Hudson in the original “Ghostbusters” movie by the name of his character, Winston Zeddemore.