Emma Stone has left an indelible mark on cinema’s canvas with her extraordinary acting capabilities. Having portrayed a variety of roles, she has proven to be one of the outstanding actresses in Hollywood. Her career is already on a great trajectory as she got her first Oscar win for portraying an aspiring actress in 2016’s La La Land.
While this movie further strengthened her prominence, she has already won global hearts with her role as Gwen Stacy in the The Amazing Spider-Man series. Given that this portrayal gave a major boost to her career, she got an offer from the $943 million Ghostbusters franchise. But to everyone’s surprise, she chose to turn down the offer.
Emma Stone Rejected to Star in Ghostbusters Franchise
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Having left an eternal mark with her Gwen Stacy role, Emma Stone absolutely made a permanent space in our hearts. Her talent is absolutely dazzling which made her in highlight for an all-female version of Ghostbusters. The movie in question was Ghostbusters: Answer the Call which starred Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones, and Kate McKinnon in the leading roles.
The popular franchise was interested in having the former in that flick but she turned it down. In her interview with the Wall Street Journal, she revealed the reason stating she was not ready to commit to another franchise.
“It just didn’t feel like the right time for me,” she said. “A franchise is a big commitment—it’s a whole thing. I think maybe I need a minute before I dive back into that water.”
It’s understandable since she was already in the spotlight all thanks to her dynamic acting and Oscar-nominated appearance in Birdman. However, she would have been a perfect cast for the popular franchise as franchise star, Bill Murray also recommended her.
Bill Murray Was Down for Emma Stone to Star in Ghostbusters!
Bill Murray, who has made an incredible acting career with numerous successful projects gained wider recognition with his role in the Ghostbuster franchise. When director, Paul Feig announced the development of an all-female Ghostbusters flick, Murray chimed in to share his opinions on who would be the perfect cast. Amid a series of names being circulated for the role, he addressed Stone’s skills.
Speaking of his Zombieland co-star, he shared as per The Star,
“Melissa [McCarthy] would be a spectacular Ghostbuster. And Kristen Wiig is so funny — God, she’s funny!” he said. “I like this girl Linda Cardellini a lot. And Emma Stone is funny. There are some funny girls out there.”
While the franchise was quite popular, the reboot was unable to engage its fans. With a net production budget of $144 million, huge marketing costs eventually made the flick target at least $300 million to break even.
Due to polarized responses from the fans, it was unable to do so thus grossing $229.1 million worldwide. With such a disappointing response, Columbia Pictures scrapped the idea of its sequel and the franchise continued its original film canon with Ghostbusters: Afterlife. That flick performed way better than the 2016 film with a sequel in development, that is set to release on March 29, 2024.
Source: Wall Street Journal, The Star
