Ernie Hudson Criticizes ‘Disappointing’ 2016 ‘Ghostbusters’ Reboot: ‘I Don’t Understand’

Ghostbusters has remained a huge part of Ernie Hudson’s life for four decades, but he admitted that the film’s 2016 reboot was “disappointing.”

“Look, I’m a fan of [director] Paul Feig, so I have nothing negative about him to say. Other than: I don’t quite understand why you do a reboot, you know what I mean? Just make another movie,” Ernie, 78, told The Independent in an interview published on March 24.

The reboot of the 1984 film starred a female-led cast, which included Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones and Cecily Strong. Ernie also made a cameo in the film. While the actor praised all of the film’s stars for being “brilliantly funny on their own,” he doesn’t think the reboot lived up to the hype.

“Fans were really invested in the story and the characters, and I think it was disappointing,” he continued. “I enjoyed the movie but I think it wasn’t what fans were hoping for.”

Ernie reprised his role of Winston Zeddemore in the new 2024 sequel, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, alongside Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd. He also appeared in the 2021 sequel, Ghostbusters: Afterlife.

“It’s been 40 years. Over half my life has been Ghostbusters on some level or other,” the Oz alum reflected. “I’ve been acting close to 60 years, and there are some films I’ve made that I hope they never even think about making again.”

Admittedly, Ernie understands that most fans recognize his work in the Ghostbusters franchise before many of his other projects.

“Most things come and go,” he said. “Not a lot of people noticed that I was in three films last year. But it’s just a job. It doesn’t give you special status. I haven’t been so successful, like some friends who can barely walk down the street or made so much money that they can’t count it. I’m still a working guy.”

Over the years, Ernie has spoken out about a pay disparity between himself and the rest of the movie’s cast.

“They couldn’t have paid me less money,” he told Yahoo! Entertainment in March 2023. “I know so much of this business is about how you’re perceived, and [the perception is that] certain people deserve to make outrageous amounts of money. Whereas other people who work just as hard and may have more credits are not thought of as deserving in that way and the studios are insulted they would even ask for it.”