I would call it a flip flop, because in one of the emails, they stated they where worried about what public reaction would be if they reneged on the feig version so soon after announcing it.. they where like kids in a candy shop, salivating at one idea after another, with no real clear vision on where to go. although you might be right about the stable of talent idea because they also didn't want to insult feig, which they did anyway.
I think they care about public opinion only enough to make sure their film isn't a TOTAL 100% flop. hence why they probably abandoned the original idea of being totally different.
and yes, the city for a reboot doesn't matter. that's why I remember hearing nothing about new york, up until the idea that it would be set in boston got leaked. then, a few weeks later, feig did an interview somewhere saying 'of course it'll be set in NY.'. my guess is the idea leaked for public opinion and when it came up negative mostly, feig did damage control...
My guess is sony does care at least a little bit about what the core fans think (at least someone other than amy pascal)... and they flip flop instantly if they think an idea threatens the success of their film.
that's my convoluted, un educated theory anyway, and i'm sticking too it ;o).
I mean, you're welcome to your theory, but from reading through the emails, I think you're imputing a degree of intentionality and forethought that just...wasn't there. For them to flipflop or backtrack or whathaveyou, they'd have to have a clear idea of what they wanted to begin with. The email thread suggests that they didn't.
My sense is that there were sort of two camps involved. You had the Akroyd/Reitman camp, which wanted to do a sequel -- a real Ghostbusters 3. The thing is, they'd been in development hell for, like, 20 years with that, and had nothing to show for it. They couldn't get Bill back on board, and everyone knew you couldn't do a sequel without Venkman as a character in it. So, the film was in stasis for a while. When Harold died, my sense is that it took the wind out of the sails of everyone who was hoping for a #3. They didn't have the energy to fight for it anymore.
I think the idea of a reboot was never really fully formed. It was more like "we won't do a sequel the way Danny and Ivan want it." It's not like the decision was "We'll go SO FAR AWAY from the original" but rather "It won't be what those guys said...but I have no idea what it will be."
The decision-making process -- because it was coming from non-creative, business types -- was more focused around how to maximize profit. They knew that they had a solid brand they wanted to leverage. So, what else did they need? More "brands." More proven successes. Feig was having much success at the box office, and so they wanted him.
That, to my view, was where the intentionality ended. There was no plan beyond "Get Feig on board." But Feig wasn't interested in a sequel or in connecting to the old continuity. He just wanted to do his thing the way he usually does, because that's what he knows, that's what he's good at, and that's what he's comfortable doing. Pascal was perfectly happy to let him do that, once Reitman backed off, because...she didn't care. She just wanted Feig doing the film. If that meant doing a sequel, fine. If that meant doing a reboot, fine.
Feig's idea, at least on paper, had some different aspects. Different plot points, slightly different origins for the characters and for the team as a whole. They wanted him on board enough to just say "Sure, Paul. Whatever you want." It's not like they said "We're gonna do a reboot, so we need Paul and his idea." It's more like "We need Paul. Give him whatever he wants, as long as the numbers match what we're comfortable with." With Reitman not opposing things, the wheels went into motion.
The Russo thing came after that point, and from the emails, it looks more like "Ooh! More money-making people! Let's get them, too. Oh, crap. They want to do something different from Paul. If we appease them, we lose him. Crap."
I see no flip-flop, because the consistent thread in all of this is grabbing money-making talent, and Pascal never wavered on that point, at least. There was no real consideration for the creative, story-telling side of things, except insofar as it applied to making these creative types happy enough to work for her. If the Russo bros. had showed up first, Pascal might've gone with them and we'd be seeing something different. Maybe a reboot, maybe a sequel. Who knows. But Feig was already signed at that point, so they couldn't very well tank his project by signing these other guys who'd do a conflicting project.
Now we're seeing the callbacks and referential aspects. Whether that was also part of Feig's original vision, I can't say. The emails don't say one way or the other. I could see it being in there, but I could also see the studio saying "We want to reference more back to the original film. Throw in more of that." We can guess at that one, but we have no real info on it, at least not that I've seen.
