Ernie Hudson says that Ghostbusters 2016 would've been better off as a sequel instead of a reboot. Hudson plays Winston Zeddemore in the Ghostbusters franchise, first introduced in the 1984 original film from Ivan Reitman. Hudson's Zeddemore appeared again in Ghostbusters II and he continued to voice the character for video games. Hudson had a guest appearance in the 2016 film, playing a new character named Bill Jenkins, who was the uncle of Leslie Jones' character in the film. In Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Hudson once again dons the tan suit, reteaming with the other original Ghostbusters, Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd at the finale of the film.
In 2016, director Paul Feig was hired to make a Ghostbusters reboot, hiring an all-female cast that includes Melissa McCarthy, Leslie Jones, Kristen Wiig, and Kate McKinnon. The film was billed as a complete reboot of the franchise and was met with harsh fan criticism and poor box office. Despite guest appearances and vocal support from the old cast, including Hudson, Murray, and Aykroyd, the film was seen as a step backward, rather than a step forward for the franchise.
In a new interview with Yahoo! UK, Hudson elaborates on what went wrong with the 2016 Ghostbusters, explaining that their biggest mistake was being a reboot instead of a sequel. Since it didn't take place in the established Ghostbusters universe, Hudson reasons that doing a reboot forces comparisons to the original, making it a very difficult journey to being a success. While Hudson enjoyed the 2016 film, he felt that it was more of a "stand alone" film, rather than being part of the overall franchise. Here's what he had to say:
“I’m a big fan of Paul [Feig] and the four women, they’re all very funny people — but I felt they put themselves in a bind because they didn’t make it part of the Ghostbusters universe. I think Paul wanted to do his thing and the fans saw Ghostbusters in a very specific way. I think Jason [Reitman] took that into account in the new movie. It would’ve been easier if they hadn’t done a reboot."
Hudson also says that he thinks the film would've worked better if it were set 20 years later and the four female leads were playing the offspring of the original characters, which would've made it part of the Ghostbusters established universe. For director Jason Reitman, son of original director Ivan Reitman, leaning into the nostalgia and Ghosbusters mythology was a staple of the new film, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, for better or for worse. Reitman's film introduces a new, younger cast, but leaves the door wide open for any of the original cast to return in some capacity or another. Hudson's Zeddemore is revealed returning the Ecto-1 to the original firehouse from the prior films in the post-credits sequence of Afterlife, suggesting that he'll play a part in any Ghostbusters film that follows the current one.
Hudson makes a great point about why the 2016 film suffered so much backlash, as the original film is such a beloved classic that anything attempting to reboot it and leave it in the past would have to be significantly amazing to do so. As it was, the 2016 Ghostbusters was fine, but just not different enough to not merit critical comparisons to the 1984 film. A sequel with the cast as the daughters of the original crew would've certainly given it a leg up, although some have argued that stunt casting an all-female cast was also a detriment. A more diverse crew with more distance from the original film would've served a reboot well, but a sequel likely would've fared better overall. Still, there's no telling how things would've ended up either way and now it's up to Ghostbusters: Afterlife to decide the fate of the franchise.
Source: Yahoo! UK
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