My, my, my.

When Paul Feig’s GHOSTBUSTERS came out last month, Sony’s President of Worldwide Distribution Rory Bruer said, “While nothing has been officially announced yet, there’s no doubt in my mind [a sequel] will happen.” You couldn’t blame him for being hopeful. After all, Sony had big, BIG PLANS FOR A GHOSTBUSTERS UNIVERSE. And, when you consider how Dan Aykroyd worked tirelessly to get a new GHOSTBUSTERS film made for nearly twenty years, you had to think they’d find a way to make all that effort worth it.

Well, it would appear that it’s all over. The new GHOSTBUSTERS was a one-and-done deal.

The Hollywood Reporter says the film is going to go down in Sony’s books as a $70 Million loss, and that any plans for live-action GHOSTBUSTERS sequels are now dead. This, after a very contentious relationship between the reboot and the fans played out publicly for over a year. Many fans turned their backs on the film before they’d seen a second of footage, and some of the talent involved with the production even lashed out at the supposed haters. 

This is not to say that there won’t be more GHOSTBUSTERS action on the way, as THR points out that a pair of animated projects are in the works. Even more telling is the fact that they’re being spearheaded by Ivan Reitman, who directed the original two films, and not Paul Feig. So these animated projects will likely have more in common with the original films than the reboot.

This means that the live-action team comprised of Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones, and Kate McKinnon is likely no more, and their services won’t be needed again. “Ghostbusters is on ice until further notice,” says Jeff Bock, box-office analyst. “I just can’t fathom the creative talents behind it — Feig, McCarthy, Wiig, etc. — slogging out another one when the reception to the first one was so mediocre.“

There’s no official word from Sony on the cancellation of the live-action sequels and prequels they had in mind, but based on the fact that the film supposedly needed to hit $300 Million to break even and looks like it will struggle to even hit $225M kind of says it all. Between that loss, the so-so opening weekend, the marginally-positive critical response, and the bitter relationship the film had with fans, it seems safe to say that Feig’s branch of the relaunch of GHOSTBUSTERS is dead.

I actually only finally just saw the new film. On Sunday, I caught a double feature of GHOSTBUSTERS and SUICIDE SQUAD. I thought Feig’s film was a resounding disappointment, and my biggest critique was that it simply wasn’t funny or interesting enough. I had no issue with the cast or the premise. I thought a lot of the ingredients were there, but that they just weren’t used the right way.

So I can’t say I’m sad to hear this news.

How about you?

SOURCE: THR