Melissa McCarthy and Ben Falcone at the Los Angeles Premiere of “Ghostbusters” held at TCL Chinese Theater in Hollywood, CA, July 9, 2016. Photo © 2016 Joe Martinez/ Picturelux – All Rights Reserved.
This past Saturday, (July 9, 2016) saw the long-awaited return and world premiere of “Ghostbusters” in Hollywood at the TCL Chinese Theater.
Thirty years after the beloved original franchise took the world by storm, the reboot features new characters and an all-female cast playing the team of Ghostbusters led by Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones. In the original 1984 film and its 1989 sequel, the supernatural investigators were originally played by Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson and Harold Ramis.
Director and Screenwriter Paul Feig created quite a buzz in some social media circles when casting all women as evidenced by the film’s first trailer which racked up a record number of dislikes for a movie trailer on YouTube.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Sony movie studio chief Tom Rothman said the controversy surrounding the movie is “the greatest thing that ever happened.” He added, “Are you kidding me? We’re in the national debate, thank you. Can we please get some more haters to say stupid things?”
It was a special evening as stars from the original 1984 movie showed their support for the new cast by attending the premiere. Dan Aykroyd, 64, who played Ray Stantz in the original, brought along his wife Donna Dixon as well as his entire family. Ernie Hudson, 70, who played Winston Zeddemore, and Annie Potts, 63, who played the receptionist and Ray Parker Jr. who sung the original theme song, also attended.
Jon Heder, 38, Lizzy Caplan, 34, Pete Wentz, 37, Austin Mahone, 20, and girlfriend Katya Henry also walked the carpet at the premiere. Ghostbusters will hit theaters on July 15.