Dan Aykroyd is "so proud" of the all-female 'Ghostbusters' reboot despite the backlash from fans.
Dan Aykroyd has defended the all-female Ghostbusters reboot
The actor - who co-wrote and starred in the original two movies - was an executive producer on the 2016 reimagining which was directed by Paul Feig and starred Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones as a new batch of Ghostbuters and Aykroyd is adamant he loved the film even though it was given lacklustre views and got a vicious response from online trolls.
He told PEOPLE: "I liked the movie Paul Feig made with those spectacular women. I was mad at them at the time because I was supposed to be a producer on there and I didn’t do my job and I didn’t argue about costs. And it cost perhaps more than it should, and they all do. All these movies do. But boy, I liked that film."
Aykroyd went on to add: "I thought that the villain at the end was great. I loved so much of it. And of course, Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones and Melissa McCarthy and Kristen Wiig, you’re never going to do better than that.
"So I go on the record as saying I’m so proud to have been able to license that movie and have a hand and have a part in it, and I’m fully supportive of it, and I don’t besmirch it at all. I think it works really great amongst all the ones that have been made."
Following the release of the film, castmember Leslie Jones opened up about the online abuse she received and claimed much of the backlash was both racist and misogynistic.
In her memoir 'Leslie F******* Jones', she wrote: "Why are people being so evil to each other? How can you sit and type ‘I want to kill you.’ Who does that?
"Sad keyboard warriors living in their mother’s basements hated the fact that this hallowed work of perfect art now featured - gasp! horror! - women in the lead roles.
"Worst of all, of course, was that one of the lead characters was a Black woman. For some men this was the final straw."
Tagged in Dan Aykroyd Kristen Wiig Melissa McCarthy