Paul Feig

Dan Aykroyd clarified his comments about last year’s Ghostbusters, while Sony responded to his initial statements, made on a British TV show, criticizing director Paul Feig, particularly about costly reshoots Aykroyd claimed killed any possibility of further Ghostbusters sequels.

Last year’s Ghostbusters reboot was supposed to be the start of an entire new franchise (or perhaps even a universe of franchises) around the venerable ’80s horror comedy. Sony Pictures, which owns the rights to bust ghosts on the big screen, even created this new production company, Ghost Corps, to lead the charge on all these various efforts. There was talk of an all-male Ghostbusters to accompany the all-female team we got from director Paul Feig. And a new cartoon series was put into development as well. But since the movie opened to just so-so reviews and box office last year, developments on this front have been as quiet as Spook Central after a total protonic reversal.

Every year, USC and Geena Davis’ Institute on Gender in Media (among others) release the findings of their studies on gender and minority representation in front of and behind the cameras in Hollywood — the results are inevitably bleak, showing little to no actual improvement. There are small changes (2016 had more women in protagonist film roles than ever), but the negative statistics (last year also had fewer speaking roles for women) often outweigh the good, and Hollywood’s gender imbalance is as prevalent as it ever was. How can we effect actual, meaningful change? Enter 52 influential industry executives, all of whom have combined forces to create a new campaign called ReFrame, which offers various tools and initiatives to combat gender inequality — actively.

Ivan Reitman ain’t afraid of no underwhelming box office numbers. The original Ghostbusters director and producer of this year’s reboot says that despite weak returns for Paul Feig’s film, “there’s going to be many other” movies in the franchise. That statement contradicts a previous report, which indicated that Sony is focusing their energy on the animated Ghostbusters film and a new TV series, while the possibility of a sequel to Feig’s reboot had become very unlikely.

If sci-fi movies and shows like Black Mirror and Westworld have taught us anything, it’s that humans tend to be irresponsible with technology — especially when it comes to artificial intelligence, which often develops a mind of its own. The results of which can either be deeply unsettling or totally hilarious, and it’s the latter that Paul Feig is concerned with for his next film project.

Mindy Kaling is a force to be reckoned with in Hollywood, after graduating from The Office to her very own show, lending her voice talents to Wreck-It Ralph and Inside Out, and set to have a starring role in Ava DuVernay’s upcoming A Wrinkle in Time adaptation. Now, it looks like she and Paul Feig are in serious talks to join forces for a comedy set in the world of late-night broadcast television.

With Paul Feig at the helm and a quartet of hilarious women who are great at improvising, it’s not surprising that the upcoming Blu-ray and DVD release of the Ghostbusters reboot is packed with additional scenes, outtakes, deleted scenes, gag reels and — as many fans hoped — an extended cut of the film. We won’t have a chance to see any of these bonus materials until October, but it should be interesting for those who felt as though Feig’s theatrical version may have been a little too safe.

Just last month, Sony exec Rory Bruer said he had “no doubt” that the studio would move forward with a sequel to Paul Feig’s Ghostbusters reboot. That was then, this is now: The all-female reimagining of the 1984 classic has made $180 million at the global box office, which isn’t enough to justify Sony’s production and marketing costs…or a sequel, for that matter.

Paul Feig is best known for his original comedies, a filmmaker who’s brought the talents of female comedy actresses into the spotlight. But after rebooting ‘Ghostbusters’ with an all-female cast, Feig says he’ll return to original stories instead making another reboot.

If you’re a regular Elle reader (or if you keep up with sites like Longform), then you’ve probably read or at least recognize the Supermodel Snowpocalypse story from earlier this year. It’s one of the craziest, funniest and weirdest true stories you’ll ever read, made all the more humorous by the fact that the details of the wild and wintry tale were kept from the public since 1977. Thanks to Paul Feig, that story is about to reach a much, much bigger audience.