Ghostbusters 2016 director congratulates Afterlife on their first-day box office success

Paul Feig took to social media to congratulate Ghostbusters: Afterlife on its success. Feig, who is well known for his work on Bridesmaids and Spy, directed the Ghostbusters reboot in 2016.

Feig has had success directing films such as A Simple Favor and Last Christmas in the years following his role in the Ghostbusters franchise. The first film in the Ghostbusters franchise, directed by Ivan Reitman, was released in 1984.

The titular team, which included Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, and the late Harold Ramis, was a defining moment in film humor.

Afterlife success

Ghostbusters’ success inspired a 1989 sequel as well as a never-ending stream of toys, cartoons, tie-in merchandise, and more. In 2016, Feig’s adaptation of Ghostbusters, starring Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Leslie Jones, and Kate McKinnon, brought the series back to the big screen.

This sparked a large (and possibly unjustified) online outrage against the departure from the original Ghostbusters continuity. Following the controversy surrounding Feig’s film, Ghostbusters has now been handed over to Jason Reitman, with Ghostbusters: Afterlife bringing the franchise closer to the universe of the original movie.

Now that the Ghostbusters franchise is moving in a new direction under the leadership of Jason Reitman, director Paul Feig appears to be rooting for Ghostbusters: Afterlife to succeed, with the film grossing $4.5 million in Thursday previews. In a tweet, Feig praised Ghostbusters: Afterlife’s box office statistics and congratulated everyone involved.

Feig stated:

While the Ghostbusters series appears to have moved on from Feig’s 2016 vision of the universe, there appears to be nothing but support. In fact, Feig appears to be interested in seeing a lot more Ghostbusters adventures in this universe. It’s unclear if this applies to the young kids who star in Ghostbusters: Afterlife or the original Ghostbusters, who make a cameo appearance in the film.