Paul Feig Blames Donald Trump’s ‘Tirade’ For All-Female ‘Ghostbusters’ Failure, ‘Anti-Hillary’ Movement
by Rachel WestThe 2016 “Ghostbusters” movie featuring Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, and Leslie Jones failed to connect at the box office because of Donald Trump’s “tirade” against the female-led film, according to director Paul Feig.
“Everyone was at a boiling point. I don’t know if it was having an African-American president for eight years that teed them up, they were just ready to explode,” he says on the Jess Cagle SiriusXM show, citing the strong effects of the “anti-Hillary” Clinton movement from Trump supporters.
While the film found critical success, the box office was subdued. Feig also references a “tirade” Trump went on in 2015, slamming the “women only” movie.
“By the time I announced I was going to do it, it started,” Feig says, also addressing the sexism the movie faced.
“It’s crazy how people got nuts about women trying to be in power or be in positions they weren’t normally in,” he says, calling 2016 an “ugly, ugly year.”
Yet another reboot of “Ghostbusters” is coming in 2021, this time starring Carrie Coon, Paul Rudd, Finn Wolfhard, and returning original “Ghostbusters” stars Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Sigourney Weaver, and Annie Potts.