# Ghostbusters Reboot Controversy The Ghostbusters Reboot Controversy was the loud online backlash aimed at Sony's 2016 all-female Ghostbusters reboot between its January 2015 announcement and July 2016 release. Critics targeted the trailer, casting and script while defenders argued much of the anger was sexist harassment dressed up as film criticism. ## Overview The Ghostbusters Reboot Controversy is the sprawling online argument that surrounded Paul Feig's 2016 reimagining of the 1984 comedy[1]. The film swapped the original male quartet for Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Leslie Jones and Kate McKinnon, a decision that split fans into people excited for a gender flip and people convinced Sony was ruining a childhood favorite for political correctness points[1]. Writers at IndieWire started using the term "Ghostbros" for the noisiest opponents[1]. The backlash traveled through trailer dislike campaigns, YouTube video essays, image macros and Reddit threads, with the first trailer collecting hundreds of thousands of dislikes before anyone had actually seen the movie[4]. When reviews finally arrived, the film landed in mixed-to-positive territory at 76% on Rotten Tomatoes[3], but the box office was soft and Sony took a heavy loss on the release[2]. ## How It Spread The controversy exploded when Sony dropped the first trailer on March 3, 2016[4]. Within 24 hours it was sitting at roughly 60% dislikes on YouTube, and four months later the upload had 35 million views, 925,000 dislikes and 264,000 likes[4]. On May 16, 2016, Cinemassacre's James Rolfe posted a six-and-a-half-minute video titled "Ghostbusters 2016. No Review. I refuse" saying he would not see or review the movie based on the marketing alone, which fans loved and critics mocked[1]. The cast appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live on June 9 and answered back by describing online critics as 45-year-old men living with their mothers. On June 23, FallOutBoyVEVO uploaded the Fall Out Boy and Missy Elliott theme song, which pulled 6.1 million views in three weeks alongside disappointed comment threads. IMDb was flooded with 1-out-of-10 ratings from users who had not yet seen the film[1]. Ghostbusters premiered at the TCL Chinese Theatre on July 9, opened to $46 million domestically on a $144 million net production budget, and finished second at the box office behind The Secret Life of Pets[2]. By August 10, 2016, the film had earned roughly $180 million against total costs closer to $300 million, with trade press projecting a $70 million loss and killing plans for further live-action sequels[2]. ## How to Use This one is less a template and more a case study writers cite whenever fandom backlash, gender-flipped reboot discourse or coordinated trailer-dislike campaigns come up[1]. People still reference the Ghostbusters Reboot Controversy as shorthand for a pre-release pile-on that blurred honest creative gripes with sexist harassment[1]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Ghostbusters Reboot Controversy? It was the online backlash directed at Paul Feig's 2016 Ghostbusters reboot, whose all-female cast turned the marketing rollout into a public fight over sexism and reboot culture[1]. ### Where did Ghostbusters Reboot Controversy come from? It started after Sony's January 2015 announcement of the reboot, hardened when the first trailer dropped on March 3, 2016 and hit around 60% dislikes in 24 hours[4]. ### What does Ghostbusters Reboot Controversy mean? It refers to the messy argument about whether criticism of the film was really about the script and trailer or about the female leads, which IndieWire framed as the "Ghostbros" backlash[1]. ### How do you use Ghostbusters Reboot Controversy? Writers cite it as an example of trailer-bombing, review-brigading and gender-tinged reboot backlash rolled into one release cycle[1]. ### Is Ghostbusters Reboot Controversy still popular? The noise mostly died down after the film's soft $46 million opening and projected $70 million loss killed sequel plans, but the episode is still referenced whenever a new gender-flipped reboot triggers similar reactions[2]. ## References 1. [https://www.indiewire.com/2016/07/ghostbusters-reboot-backlash-1201705555/]() 2. [https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/box-office-ghostbusters-no-2-911812]() 3. [https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ghostbusters_2016/]() 4. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/events/ghostbusters-reboot-controversy]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/ghostbusters-reboot-controversy Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library