Paul Feig has admitted that the backlash following the announcement of his all-female Ghostbusters was so strong that he considered abandoning the project.
The director, who was first attached to the film in August, revealed that he received so much criticism on social media that he questioned whether he should go ahead with the film.
Speaking at the SXSW Festival, Feig told Yahoo! Movies: "In the weeks after the announcement about the movie, I was so inundated with hate, that I almost went, 'Maybe I should just not do this, maybe this is a bad idea'.
"Then you go, 'Wait, think about it'. The people that reach out to you most vociferously are the haters. This is the downside of the internet.
"Let's say you get bombarded by, like, 500 people. Your Twitter feed is going to explode and you're like, 'F**k, the whole world's against me'. But then you go, 'Wait, that's 500 people'. And you think about that in context of how many people there are."
He added that a few of the responses he received about the film made "valid points" and said: "I never want to diminish anybody's opinion, even if I don't agree with it, even if I strongly disagree with it... that's their opinion."
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Feig, who is behind comedy hits such as Bridesmaids and The Heat, also reacted to the news that Sony is planning a new male-led Ghostbusters film, with
Channing Tatum reportedly already attached to a role.
"Who knew there were so many ghosts to be busted in this world?" he said. "I heard rumblings about it... but it was a surprise. I didn't know it was real. You just go, 'That's an interesting time to announce it'."
Feig's Ghostbusters is due for release on July 22, 2016. The cast features Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Leslie Jones and Kate McKinnon as the lead Ghostbusters.
The director recently said that the film is inspired by zombie drama The Walking Dead, explaining that he wants it to be genuinely frightening.
Watch the trailer for the original Ghostbusters below:
Reporter & Sub-Editor, Digital Spy Susannah is a freelance writer and sub-editor, specialising in the entertainment industry. She graduated in 2014, with a BA in English and American Literature and Creative Writing, and an MA in Creative Producing. She’s been writing for Digital Spy ever since, after first getting involved through work experience, and has written hundreds of stories for the site on a range of topics, from The Sims to Doctor Who. Susannah has also written for Reveal Magazine. Her special interests are soaps (her Mastermind subject would be 2000s Coronation Street), Marvel and Star Wars. She can also quote far too many lines from Friends and Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
