A beloved franchise that originated as nothing more than a fun popcorn movie? GB was never meant to be a classic pop culture phenomenon. You can't plan for that kind of thing. It's a fun movie, which is apparently what they're aiming for with the reboot.
Yes, of course nobody could have predicted the impact that GB made. And in the beginning it was of course not meant to be anything but a money and work generator for those directly involved. Movies are mostly made to put food on people´s tables.
But sometimes they take on a life of their own. They do what really good movies are meant to do. They generate emotions and touch people. And when people are touched they sometimes emotionally connect to stuff and attach themselves to things, people or stories. Then a following develops. But I think that aspect is clear to everyone involved, pros and cons.
IMHO, if anything, Feig is being TOO respectful to the original. I kinda wish he would have taken the concept back to it's roots-- focusing on one of the many groups of bored, underpaid ghost janitors.
I think that "respectful" isn´t the right term to describe what is happening. "Respectful" would have been to not reboot but to continue the story. Look at TFA, same old, same old. It would have worked so well if the girls had continued the work of the original Ghostbusters who vanished and have been defunct for three decades. Every one of them could have been the daughter of one of the GBs. And we still could have had the movie that we are getting now, with a few simple additions.
The bad thing is that they actually TRY to be respectful. Where? In the trailers. There´s the one single connection. "Four friends saving the world". Or "Every decade ..." or some such, I do not remember what it was in one of the trailers.
But that kind of "respect" feels more like "sucking up" to the fans than actually being respectful.
It´s just as you already wrote, it would have been much much better and less painful for everyone involved or attached to that franchise to start with a fresh idea. A fun popcorn movie about a group of women fighting ghosts. And monsters. Because that is what this movie is going to be. It´s just the name "Ghostbusters" that makes it so tough to enjoy.
EDIT: OKAYYYY. Stay Puft. Huh. Shot to the groin. Reminds me of ...
Who of the main characters is going to have a love interest in the movie? Will Melissa McCarthy´s character have a backstory wound that justifies her reaction? Questions, questions, questions ...
By the way, one of the story arcs in the original GB was that Peter wants to rescue Dana, wasn´t it? And Pete was actually a fraud, wasn´t he? And they did use a bit of raunchy humour, didn´t they? And Peter was actually much, much lower in status than Dana, right? Out of her league? And in GB 2, wasn´t he kind of a respectful charmer, and as good a "dad" as he could be?
I do wonder if we are going to get updated music videos, too. Hm.
In the meantime ...
[video]http://dai.ly/x4puc[/video]
(nothing official, though)