It might just be the most controversial remake since Gus van Sant’s shot-for-shot reworking of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. Now a new trailer for Paul Feig’s Ghostbusters appears to reference some of the criticisms levelled at the film, as well as offering up our first proper look at Chris Hemsworth’s receptionist, Kevin.
Last week studio Sony debuted the first full promo for Ghostbusters. While the reaction was generally positive, some Twitter users continued to bemoan the shift to an all-female team that had led to threats of a boycott from some sections of the internet last year. Meanwhile, the actor Leslie Jones has come in for rampant trolling on social media over her “street-smart” New Yorker character, which some say amounts to a racist stereotype.
The new international trailer suggests Feig plans to lampoon controversies surrounding the replacement of original male Ghostbusters Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson and the late Harold Ramis with an all-female quartet. In one clip, Hemsworth offers up a fresh logo for the team, whose femininity has been underlined by the addition of a pair of breasts. “You do see how this might make us look bad?” asks Kristen Wiig’s Erin Gilbert.
The trailer also seems to reference the social media storm that has swirled around Jones for several days. At one point, the Saturday Night Live alumnus tries to crowdsurf over a concert audience, who are having none of it. “OK, I don’t know if it was a race thing or a lady thing, but I’m mad as hell,” the comic screams, having landed flat on her back on the concrete.
On Tuesday, Feig mounted a fierce defence of Jones after the actor threatened to quit Twitter in the face of trolling. “Haters, attack me all you want but when you attack and insult my cast, you’ve crossed the line,” he tweeted.
All three surviving members of the 1984 Ghostbusters team are signed up to return in some capacity in the 2016 remake, with Murray tipped to take a larger role. All three have given Feig’s film their blessing, even though Hudson initially described the all-female concept as a “bad idea” when it was announced in 2014.
