Paul Feig says online backlash to Ghostbusters movie still affects him 10 years on
Paul Feig still struggles with the online backlash over his 2016 female-led Ghostbusters reboot.
Paul Feig still gets a "hard time going on the internet" because of people who loathe his Ghostbusters movie.
The 63-year-old filmmaker - whose female-led reboot of the supernatural comedy starred Melissa McCarthy, 55, Kristen Wiig, 52, Leslie Jones, 58, and 42-year-old Kate McKinnon - was initially hesitant to take on the beloved film franchise as it is "sacred ground for comedy".
Speaking at the 2026 Nantucket Film Festival, per People, moderator Ophira Eisenberg, 54, quizzed Feig about the "ridiculous" backlash and criticism he faced from online trolls after the 2016 flick was released.
He sarcastically said: "That was a good time."
Although hesitant at first to do a Ghostbusters movie, Feig thought a female-led cast could work.
He said: "I was like, 'If I can reboot it and I work with all these funny women, that seems like a way to distance myself from the first one and not, like, ruin that legacy, but take the idea and reboot it over here.' I thought it's the greatest idea ever.
"Little did I know it would just set off this lightning rod of - I still have a hard time going on the internet. There's still guys that will just excoriate me up there."
Feig admitted the film's release came at "the worst time", with Hillary Clinton, 78, and Donald Trump, 80, battling it out to become president.
He added: "It somehow unnecessarily became a political statement to go see that movie. And most audiences are like, 'I just want to see a comedy. I want to have some fun.'"
Despite the backlash, Feig is "proud of the movie".
He said: "I don't regret it. I'm very proud of it, but it definitely caused me more trouble than I needed in my career."
Dan Aykroyd - who co-wrote and starred in the original two Ghostbusters movies - is equally as proud of the all-female Ghostbusters reboot, which he executive-produced.
In July 2024, the 73-year-old star told People: "I liked the movie Paul Feig made with those spectacular women. I was mad at them at the time because I was supposed to be a producer on there, and I didn’t do my job, and I didn’t argue about costs. And it cost perhaps more than it should, and they all do.
"All these movies do. But boy, I liked that film."
Aykroyd added: "I thought that the villain at the end was great. I loved so much of it. And of course, Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones and Melissa McCarthy and Kristen Wiig, you’re never going to do better than that.
"So I go on the record as saying I’m so proud to have been able to license that movie and have a hand and have a part in it, and I’m fully supportive of it, and I don’t besmirch it at all. I think it works really great amongst all the ones that have been made."
