Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire won the box office this past weekend, despite the icy critical reception it's received. With this film and 2021's Afterlife, the franchise has expanded upon the continuity launched by Ivan Reitman's 1984 flick. And, in the process, it's finally given Ernie Hudson’s Winston Zeddemore his flowers. However, before these past two films, there was the 2016 all-lady Ghostbusters reboot, which was criticized by OG fans. Now, Hudson is sharing his thoughts and not holding back about the "disappointing" reception to the film.
The veteran actor was honest about fans’ response to the reboot while speaking with The Independent. Ernie Hudson actually made a small cameo as the uncle of Leslie Jones' Patty Tolan. Despite appearing in the franchise revival attempt, Hudson admitted to having trepidation about the female-led film. Of course, he was kind in several respects, calling Jones and her co-stars “brilliantly funny on their own.” However, he didn’t pull back when recalling longtime fans’ responses to the film:
Fans were really invested in the story and the characters and I think it was disappointing. I enjoyed the movie but I think it wasn’t what fans were hoping for.
Overall, he seemed to enjoy the 2016 reboot himself but could understand much of the public's response. At the time, fans of the OG series wanted to see the original cast reunite (minus the late Harold Ramis) instead of seeing a new group take the reins. In the time since, Melissa McCarthy has discussed the backlash alongside some of the film's other leads. The blowback actually became so immense that there came a point where director Paul Feig had to step in. It wasn’t just fans who seemingly disliked the film either, as it received mixed critical reception at the time as well.
Ernie Hudson shed more light on the failed 2016 reboot by mentioning that he didn’t “quite understand why you do a reboot” when one could “just make another movie” in the OG series. He does make a fair point in that making a proper threequel could've been a viable course of action at the time. Then again, the idea of tapping Leslie Jones, Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy and Kate McKinnon for a supernatural comedy does sound perfect on paper. Unfortunately, it just didn't pan out well.
Some fans still speak ill of the film and its cast to this day, despite being nearly a decade removed from its release. Some seemed pleased when Ghostbusters: Afterlife was announced years later. One person who wasn't happy, though, was Leslie Jones, who shared some blunt thoughts on the 2021 revival. But, again, time has passed since that film, and it would seem that Sony Pictures has indeed moved on -- as has Ernie Hudson, it seems.
You can check out Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, one of the big titles on the 2024 movie schedule, in theaters now. You can follow up on the latest franchise entry by streaming the 1984 film and its sequels with a Hulu subscription or with a Prime Video subscription, which will also get you access to the 2016 reboot.
