8. The cast and crew signed extra NDAs (non-disclosure agreements) about the production
Because the on-set tensions were so hot and Sony wanted to squash any rumours getting out, the cast and crew reportedly signed additional NDAs that said they would not publicly discuss anything about the shoot. Not only that, but if they were to discuss the film in any capacity, it had to be positive. The source also claims that Sony didn’t want Feig or any of the cast to “pull a Josh Trank” and denounce the movie before its release.
9. Feig’s Twitter meltdowns are a result of the production
You’ve probably seen Feig attack trolls on Twitter about the movie and defend his choices, and this apparently all stems from the issues on-set. A source says that Feig is worried that this movie will ruin his career moving forward or – depending on its box office performance – end it. After all, when was the last time we heard from Josh Trank…
10. The cameos from the original cast were forced
Sony reportedly got lawyers to “strong-arm” the original cast into last-minute cameos (bribes have also been rumoured) in a way to sell the movie on nostalgia. The rumours of Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Ernie Hudson and Annie Potts joining the film in some capacity were rife on the internet prior to shooting, but they were all confirmed in a very short space of time which backs up this rumour (Feig was also unhappy these cameos were reported). Furthermore, the first trailer released back in March began with references to the original movie, even though this is a reboot and not a sequel (which was confirmed by McCarthy). Not only that, but the Sony Hacks from December 2014 show that the studio had litigation planned against Murray if he turned down an appearance in another Ghostbusters movie.
11. Sony are in “full blown panic mode”
It’s safe to say that Sony wanted Ghostbusters to be a hit – after all, it’s supposed to kickstart the shared Ghostbusters universe (although Feig himself has said it’s not). As a studio, outside of Spider-Man and James Bond, they don’t have a bankable franchise especially after Pixels bombed at the box office last year (it was supposed to a series of movies) and they need Ghostbusters to be successful. But an anonymous 4chan poster has said that Sony think the movie might fail, and if it does it will squash all their Ghostbusters plans for another 15-20 years. Commentators on 4Chan and Reddit who claim to work for Sony who have seen the movie, say it’s a complete trainwreck which is why the studio are worried. Though hardly concrete evidence, some of these Reddit posters recounted scenes from the movie before the trailer was released, which legitimises some of their claims.
12. The marketing is so bad, people have lost their jobs
This one is actually true, but it’s unconfirmed whether it’s connected to Ghostbusters or not. In May, 16-year Sony veteran George Leon left his position as Sony Pictures’ Consumer Marketing Head. Leon was said to be the man who has spearheaded all of the Ghostbusters marketing, including the first trailer and the first international trailer which were widely hated online (the first trailer is famous for being the most dis-liked trailer in YouTube’s history). Although the news reports said it was his decision to leave, there are those who theorise its connected to the backlash. After all, Leon left his position with no other job to go to.
13. Sony have squashed all hate for the movie online
Again, this one is true. Several vloggers made videos about the trailer when it was first released, but they were all taken down from YouTube when Sony complained about “Fair Use”. Even negative videos that didn’t use footage or images from the movie were removed. Videos that were positive, however, remained online. There are users on Reddit and various other sites who have also shown evidence that Sony removed their comments on the trailers from their official channel if they are negative.
14. But not all comments
In a more interesting note, Sony didn’t remove any negative comments that were racist or sexist. This way they can drive the narrative that all of the backlash against the movie comes racists and misogynistic trolls who hate the idea of women taking over from male Ghostbusters. It’s interesting, because Fox pulled this exact same trick with Fantastic Four last year over the casting of Michael B. Jordan.
—
As I said at the start, there are a lot of parallels between Ghostbusters and Fantastic Four and it will be interesting in the coming months whether or not these rumours get backed up.
Some of it does seem to add up though. Kristin Wiig and Kate McKinnon have been very quiet about the movie, as have Melissa McCarthy and Leslie Jones following tweeting about the first trailer’s release. Only Feig has been vocal about the reboot, but has put more focus on the sexist and racist trolls than anyone else (although Den of Geek’s amazing interview has him talking about other criticisms).
It’s also telling that Feig promised the first trailer in December, before it got pushed back to February and then finally released in March. It only gave the film a four-month marketing process, again not to dissimilar to Josh Trank’s Fantastic Four.
Reviews of the film should be arriving on Sunday evening, but only a small number of press were allowed access to the screening and were made to sign very strong NDAs. This is why you haven’t seen film critics even talking about the film on social media in any capacity, which studios usually like. In fact some of the screenings are taking place on Sunday, the day before the film’s release – a sure sign that a studio is worried about negative press getting out (Sony did this with Pixels last year). A new rumour from Midnight’s Edge has also claimed that some embargoes are being pushed back to Monday evening to coincide with the film’s release, and only a handful of reviews that Sony know will be positive will be allowed out.
UPDATE #1: Drew at Hitflix got in touch to say that the press NDA rumours are not true as reported elsewhere. Reviews will be going up on Sunday AM.
Sony pushing the sexism card is perhaps the most interesting one, however. Feig has focused all of his rage on this small group of people, and there is evidence from those on Reddit who say their legitimate complaints were pulled while the misogynistic ones remained. It should be noted that the only person who has said that all the hate isn’t sexist is Ivan Reitman, who was reportedly locked out of the production.
As I said, it will be interesting in the coming months to look back on these rumours…
Big thanks to Midnight’s Edge for some of the information in this article.
Luke Owen is the Deputy Editor of Flickering Myth and the co-host of The Flickering Myth Podcast and Scooperhero News. You can follow him on Twitter @ThisisLukeOwen and read his weekly feature The Week in Star Wars.
. url=”.” . width=”100%” height=”150″ iframe=”true” /]
