The latest Ghostbusters movie, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, has arrived, giving audiences another chance to see the original ‘busters, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, and Ernie Hudson, don their paranormal-hunting jumpsuits once again. Now, in a new interview, Hudson has praised Sony for having “stepped up” with the new film, elevating it beyond some of its recent predecessors.
Specifically, Hudson referred to the Ghostbusters reboot — which re-launched the franchise in 2016 — as “disappointing.” Speaking to The Independent, he praised the film’s director Paul Feig, and described its all-female leading cast (Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones) as “brilliantly funny on their own,” but overall felt that the film lacked intention.
“Other than: I don’t quite understand why you do a reboot, you know what I mean? Just make another movie,” he said. “Fans were really invested in the story and the characters and I think it was disappointing. I enjoyed the movie but I think it wasn’t what fans were hoping for.”
Worth noting is that Hudson had a cameo in that 2016 reboot, albeit playing a different role than his signature Ghostbusters character, Winston Zeddemore. Now, with Frozen Empire, though, Zeddemore is back in full swing, having become the mastermind behind a new generation of ghost-hunters.
Reflecting on his history with Ghostbusters — “It’s been 40 years, over half my life has been Ghostbusters on some level or other” — Hudson touched on how Zeddemore was originally intended for Eddie Murphy, which led Sony to diminish the part and pay Hudson a smaller salary than his co-stars when they casted him instead. Now, though, Sony has grown quite a bit.
“Sony is not the same studio it was 40 years ago and they’ve really stepped up and given some dimension to the character,” Hudson said. “Credit to Sony for being open to hearing my feelings, because in the first one — they didn’t.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Hudson touched on his early acting years, the future of Ghostbusters, Aykroyd’s belief in real-life ghosts, and more. Read the full interview here.
For more on Ghostbusters, read Liz Shannon Miller’s review explaining how it leans harder than ever before on nostalgia, or revisit Hudson singing the Ghostbusters theme song with Murray and Ray Parker Jr. with Jimmy Fallon and The Roots this past week.