Ghostbusters (2016) type Movie

Director Paul Feig has offered a glimmer of hope to moviegoers wishing for a sequel to his female-led Ghostbusters reboot.

Although prospects of a follow-up film darkened this summer — after the reboot ignited controversy by gender-swapping the main characters and subsequently underperformed at the box office — Feig recently told told the Daily Beast he’d like to see Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon, and Leslie Jones suit up again.

Ultimately, the decision to make a sequel would be up to Sony Pictures, “because they have to pay for it,” Feig said. He added, “Nobody’s called me. But I love those characters and I know they are now heroes and mean a lot to a lot of people, so in a perfect world it would be great if we could see them bust more ghosts, kick more ass, and be awesome again.”

Released in July to generally positive reviews, Feig’s Ghostbusters grossed $229 million at the worldwide box office, but with a $150 million production budget and extensive marketing costs. In the months leading up to its debut, the movie was decried by internet trolls who claimed that a female-centric Ghostbusters would somehow ruin their childhoods.

According to Feig, the movie has been resonating with audiences on home video. “Now that the movie’s kind of past all that stuff and we’re out on DVD and streaming on digital, I get contacted all day long over social media by women thanking me for the movie, and girls and young women sending me pictures of themselves in their modern-day Ghostbusters costumes,” he said.

A spokesperson for Sony did not immediately respond to request for comment about Feig’s remarks, but the studio does not appear to have given up on the Ghostbusters franchise, with an animated film and an animated TV show in the works.